By Mark Vester
At Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Yonnhy Perez (20-0, 14KOs) and Abner Mares (20-0, 13KOs) fought to a twelve round majority draw. Perez retains his IBF bantamweight title. The scores were 115-113 for Mares, 114-114 and 114-114.
The fight was a very physical contest for both fighters. During the first half, it was a back and forth battle with the speed and combinations of Perez going up against the power and accurate shots of Perez. During the middle rounds, Perez was starting to wear Mares down with hard punches with both hands.
Before the start of the ninth round, Mares told his corner that he was getting tired. But he seemed to get a second wind in the final minute of the ninth. In the tenth, Mares began to batter his body with punches that made Perez drop his hands. Marez came off with some strong combinations in the final minute to close the tenth. The eleventh round was a back and forth struggle.
They came out swinging in the twelfth and final round. Perez started strong with some very good hooks, but it was Mares who came on in the second minute with hard counter punches. He stunned Perez in the final ten seconds with a hard power punch combination.