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It seems like yesterday when former 2004 Mexican Olympian Abner Mares sat down aside a table at Golden Boy Promotions headquarters with a few media reps present and signed a contract with the L.A.-based company.
Outside of the amateur circles few knew anything about the kid Mares.
There he sat with his father and signed the document that made him one of the first amateurs signed by the company. Golden Boy Promotions had signed several veteran pros including Bernard Hopkins and here was a virtual unknown boxer.
It takes talent to discover talent. An amateur boxer can have gaudy numbers but it doesn’t always translate into success as a professional once the head gear is abandoned and lighter gloves replace the amateur mitts.
Mares is just one of numerous prizefighters on the fight card taking place at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday May 22. The fight card is co-promoted by Frank Espinoza Promotions, Golden Boy, Gary Shaw Productions and Zanfer Promotions. Two fights will be televised on Showtime.
Mares fights IBF champ Yonnhy Perez and Israel Vazquez meets Rafael Marquez a fourth time. Others on the card include Ronny Rios against Lupe De Leon and Carlos Molina against Humberto Tapia.
I’ve been privileged to be able to witness the initial fights of not just Mares, but Perez, Vazquez, Rios, Molina and to an extent Marquez too. Through the years each one of these prizefighters has crafted himself into a better boxer. Here we are to see exactly how much each has learned.
Mares has been trained by some of the best boxing teachers on earth. Floyd Mayweather Sr. added defense and quickness to the muscular fighter and it showed immediately. But when the Hawaiian Gardens boxer tired of Las Vegas he returned to California. From there he then moved to Mexico City to train with Nacho Beristain for a couple of years.
Technical precision is a mainstay of Beristain. Every punch has a reason and accuracy is extremely important for a Beristain fighter. Soon, however, Mares tired of living so far from home and back to California he went. Now he’s trained by Joel Diaz whose stable includes Timothy Bradley, Vicente Escobedo, Julio Diaz and Antonio Diaz among others.
“I feel comfortable here,” said Mares who now trains in the desert near Indio.
Many experts call Mares one of the best boxers without a world title. More than a few called Mares a future world champion when he first began fighting professionally.
The bantamweight contender has impeccable defense, sneaky fast hands and feet, perfect combinations and power to go along with it.
“He’s a beautiful boxer,” said Liz Quevedo a former amateur star who watched him rise to the top of the bantamweight charts as an amateur and pro. “He does everything so well and he sees everything inside the ring.”
Yonnhy Perez
Perez, who is defending his title against Mares, knows his challenger better than anybody. He fought Mares three times as an amateur winning one of those three international competitions. But that was amateurs. When Perez entered the U.S. he lived and trained with Mares for almost two years.
The first time I saw Perez fight was at the Quiet Cannon boxing show in 2006. It was his third pro fight and he forced his opponent to retire on his stool after one round. Nobody knew the Colombian boxer and nobody knew that it was Mares and his father who more or less sponsored Perez.
Soon Thompson Boxing Promotions got interested in Perez. Alex Camponovo, who directs operations for that group, also serves as the match maker. He spotted Perez and liked what he saw. Perez was put on one of the shows in the Inland Empire and soon after was signed.
It gets tricky trying to predict if a particular boxer has the potential to go all the way or even become a challenger. Perez had speed, but not great speed, he had power, but not great power and he had technique. But he seemed kind of old. He was 27 when I first saw him fight but he looks more like 37. Perhaps all those years as a soldier in Colombia take a toll.
Personally I felt that he could work his way to the top 20 but I didn’t see anything extra special. Against tough Mexican fighters he did well and on occasion was wobbled but rallied to knock those guys out. He was a real fighter and had heart. But could he take a punch from an elite fighter?
The answer came a year ago in South Africa when Perez had to rally from behind and beat Silence Mabuza by knockout in the last round. It shocked many including me that Perez could knock out Mabuza who fought Rafael Marquez very hard twice. That win put Perez in line for the world title.
On Halloween Night the Colombian boxer met champion Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko a very talented boxer puncher and engaged in what many called the Fight of the Year for 2009. These two bantamweights clobbered each other non stop with Perez emerging the surprise winner.
“Yonnhy surprises everybody,” Camponovo says. “He has a lot of heart.”
That’s one key ingredient to becoming a world champion.
Heart is what Vazquez and Marquez both have in heaping barrels.
Outside of the amateur circles few knew anything about the kid Mares.
There he sat with his father and signed the document that made him one of the first amateurs signed by the company. Golden Boy Promotions had signed several veteran pros including Bernard Hopkins and here was a virtual unknown boxer.
It takes talent to discover talent. An amateur boxer can have gaudy numbers but it doesn’t always translate into success as a professional once the head gear is abandoned and lighter gloves replace the amateur mitts.
Mares is just one of numerous prizefighters on the fight card taking place at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday May 22. The fight card is co-promoted by Frank Espinoza Promotions, Golden Boy, Gary Shaw Productions and Zanfer Promotions. Two fights will be televised on Showtime.
Mares fights IBF champ Yonnhy Perez and Israel Vazquez meets Rafael Marquez a fourth time. Others on the card include Ronny Rios against Lupe De Leon and Carlos Molina against Humberto Tapia.
I’ve been privileged to be able to witness the initial fights of not just Mares, but Perez, Vazquez, Rios, Molina and to an extent Marquez too. Through the years each one of these prizefighters has crafted himself into a better boxer. Here we are to see exactly how much each has learned.
Mares has been trained by some of the best boxing teachers on earth. Floyd Mayweather Sr. added defense and quickness to the muscular fighter and it showed immediately. But when the Hawaiian Gardens boxer tired of Las Vegas he returned to California. From there he then moved to Mexico City to train with Nacho Beristain for a couple of years.
Technical precision is a mainstay of Beristain. Every punch has a reason and accuracy is extremely important for a Beristain fighter. Soon, however, Mares tired of living so far from home and back to California he went. Now he’s trained by Joel Diaz whose stable includes Timothy Bradley, Vicente Escobedo, Julio Diaz and Antonio Diaz among others.
“I feel comfortable here,” said Mares who now trains in the desert near Indio.
Many experts call Mares one of the best boxers without a world title. More than a few called Mares a future world champion when he first began fighting professionally.
The bantamweight contender has impeccable defense, sneaky fast hands and feet, perfect combinations and power to go along with it.
“He’s a beautiful boxer,” said Liz Quevedo a former amateur star who watched him rise to the top of the bantamweight charts as an amateur and pro. “He does everything so well and he sees everything inside the ring.”
Yonnhy Perez
Perez, who is defending his title against Mares, knows his challenger better than anybody. He fought Mares three times as an amateur winning one of those three international competitions. But that was amateurs. When Perez entered the U.S. he lived and trained with Mares for almost two years.
The first time I saw Perez fight was at the Quiet Cannon boxing show in 2006. It was his third pro fight and he forced his opponent to retire on his stool after one round. Nobody knew the Colombian boxer and nobody knew that it was Mares and his father who more or less sponsored Perez.
Soon Thompson Boxing Promotions got interested in Perez. Alex Camponovo, who directs operations for that group, also serves as the match maker. He spotted Perez and liked what he saw. Perez was put on one of the shows in the Inland Empire and soon after was signed.
It gets tricky trying to predict if a particular boxer has the potential to go all the way or even become a challenger. Perez had speed, but not great speed, he had power, but not great power and he had technique. But he seemed kind of old. He was 27 when I first saw him fight but he looks more like 37. Perhaps all those years as a soldier in Colombia take a toll.
Personally I felt that he could work his way to the top 20 but I didn’t see anything extra special. Against tough Mexican fighters he did well and on occasion was wobbled but rallied to knock those guys out. He was a real fighter and had heart. But could he take a punch from an elite fighter?
The answer came a year ago in South Africa when Perez had to rally from behind and beat Silence Mabuza by knockout in the last round. It shocked many including me that Perez could knock out Mabuza who fought Rafael Marquez very hard twice. That win put Perez in line for the world title.
On Halloween Night the Colombian boxer met champion Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko a very talented boxer puncher and engaged in what many called the Fight of the Year for 2009. These two bantamweights clobbered each other non stop with Perez emerging the surprise winner.
“Yonnhy surprises everybody,” Camponovo says. “He has a lot of heart.”
That’s one key ingredient to becoming a world champion.
Heart is what Vazquez and Marquez both have in heaping barrels.
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