Abner Mares, and trainer Robert Garcia, are hoping that the second time is the charm, when the challenge WBA featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (34-1-1, 19 KOs) on June 9th at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Back in 2015 at the very same venue, Mares (31-2-1, 15 KOs) dropped a close twelve round decision to Santa Cruz.
The Showtime televised co-feature, will have WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo (30-0, 15 KOs) defending his world title against former champ Austin Trout.
Mares hired Garcia in 2016, and he led the boxer to the WBA "regular" featherweight crown with a dominating performance over Jesus Cuellar.
That performances was followed up by a lopsided decision win over Andres Gutierrez in October of 2017.
Garcia is now ready to lead Mares to what many would consider the biggest win of his career.
"This is probably the biggest fight of Abner's career and the biggest since me and Abner have teamed up together. This is a fight that Abner wanted very badly and as his trainer, I want this win badly," Garcia said.
"We know that this isn't going to be an easy fight. But the way that Abner has been training and the way that he follows instructions, it's going to make a big difference in his performance June 9 compared to the first fight."
Garcia was ringside for the first encounter and saw the mistakes that Mares made during the contest.
This time around, they intend to break Santa Cruz down and prepare for the late rallies that Santa Cruz will bring in the second half.
"I was at the first fight and I thought that Abner looked for big single punches too much and fought too rough of a fight. He made it harder on himself. It was still a very close fight despite that," Garcia said.
"With a little more speed and by fighting smart going in and out, Abner could make a huge leap in his performance this time out. We know we have to look to throw combinations and break Leo down."
Garcia has had Mares sparring with fighters who are tall and mimicking the style of Santa Cruz.
Based on how well Mares has performed against them in the gym, Garcia believes his man will have a much different performance in the rematch.
"We've been getting sparring partners that are a little taller and throw a lot of punches and the results have been great. Abner just has to be in shape to 12 rounds, because Leo is a fighter that finishes as strong as he starts. We can't perform for eight rounds and then tire out because there's a chance Leo comes on strong and puts us in trouble," Garcia said.
