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Abner Mares-Anselmo Moreno Nov. 10 Is a Solid Scrap

Published

12 years ago

October 2, 2012

Goldenboy LOS ANGELES, October 2 – Sporting a combined record of 57-1-2 with 25 knockouts with three world championships in two weight classes, WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion Abner Mares and former WBA Bantamweight Super Champion Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno prove that great fighters come in small packages. On Saturday, November 10 the fight true boxing fans have been waiting for is here, as Mares looks to defend his crown against a hungry Moreno who is stepping up in weight class in the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING main event at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

Also featured will be IBF Bantamweight World Champion Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz defending his title against opponent to be determined in a 12-round bout as well as Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo and Raul Casarez squaring off in a 12-round junior middleweight battle.

“I feel faster and stronger at 122 pounds and now that I'm used to this weight class, I'm going to be more dangerous than ever for anyone who steps in the ring with me,” said Mares. “I love this fight with Moreno. I've got a lot of respect for him, but I know I'll get the win on November 10 with the help of my hometown fans in Los Angeles.”

“I'd like to thank Mares for taking this fight as this is the type of moment every fighter waits for and dreams about,” said Moreno. “I'm ready to show the world what I can do. I promise my fans that I will put on a great show like always and leave the ring with the belt.”

“You always hear boxers saying that they want to fight the best competition,” said Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya. “Mares and Moreno are not just talking the talk, they are walking the walk. These two are the best of the best and to see them in the ring together on November 10 is going to be a special night for the sport. We are continuing our promise to put on the best fight cards top to bottom and with Mares-Moreno, bantamweight champ Leo Santa Cruz defending his title and the highly anticipated return of Alfredo Angulo in a brawl against Raul Casarez, fans will be on their feet cheering all night long.”

“STAPLES Center is incredibly excited to host this much anticipated fight between Mares and Moreno,” Lee Zeidman, STAPLES Center General Manager. “Los Angeles is home to true boxing fans and this fight will definitely be one they will not want to miss.”

“This fall, with world-class championship fights from marquee venues around the country, we have assembled perhaps the strongest SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING run in our 25 year history,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “With upcoming fights at the Barclay's Center and Madison Square Garden, this telecast from STAPLES Center solidifies the network's commitment to premiere boxing. Abner Mares has come of age on this network as he has consistently challenged himself against the toughest men in his division. November 10 will be no different, as Abner takes on one of the most skilled fighters in boxing, the current bantamweight world champion, Anselmo Moreno. I expect an explosive fight to cap off yet another big night of fights on SHOWTIME.”

“I'm looking forward to defending my title in front of my hometown fans,” said Santa Cruz. “It's always very motivating to have my friends and family support me and I'm excited for November 10.”

“It's very exciting to have my comeback fight in my second home of Los Angeles,” said Angulo. “I have been working really hard to give the fans a good show like they are used to because I am here thanks to their support. 'El Perro' is back!

“This is the opportunity I have been looking for and I will train hard to make the best of it,” said Casarez.

Mares vs. Moreno is a 12-round battle for Mares' WBC Super Bantamweight World Championship promoted by Golden Boy Promotions taking place on November 10 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. The event is sponsored by Corona and AT&T and will be televised live on SHOWTIME.

Tickets priced at $200, $100, $50 and $25, not including applicable service charges and taxes, are on sale now and available for purchase at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000 or at the STAPLES Center Box Office.

A representative of the 2004 Mexican Olympic team, Guadalajara native Abner Mares (24-0-1, 13 KO's) now makes his home in the Los Angeles area in Hawaiian Gardens, where he has become one of the most popular fighters to emerge from the area in years. That's no surprise given his affable personality, willingness to take on all comers and warrior-like style in the ring, but most important to his fans is the character he's shown in navigating the ups and downs of life in the fight game. In 2010, he began to make his move on the big-time boxing scene with a hard-fought and controversial draw against Yonnhy Perez and an exciting win over Vic Darchniyan. However, it was his win over Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko for the IBF Bantamweight World Title in August of 2011 that made him a champion and catapulted him into the spotlight. After a successful defense against Agbeko in their December 2011 rematch, the 26-year-old Mares won his second divisional world title in April with a 12-round victory over former Two-Time World Champion Eric “Little Hands Of Steel” Morel that earned him the WBC Super Bantamweight World Championship belt. He now looks to defend against another tough customer in Moreno.

Fighting out of Panama City, Panama, 27-year-old Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno (33-1-1, 12 KO's) had been one of boxing's best kept secrets for years, but the man with the amazing 27-fight winning streak is unknown no longer thanks to his remarkable skill set and willingness to fight anyone. A professional since 2003, Moreno won the WBA Bantamweight World Championship title in May of 2008 with a 12-round decision win over Volodymyr Sydorenko. After that, eight successful defenses followed before Moreno made his United States debut with another defense of his crown, this one a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision win over former World Champion Vic Darchinyan. Firmly established as one of the best young champions in boxing, Moreno stopped David De La Mora in nine rounds on April 21, 2012. Now he will step up in weight to challenge Mares in one of the biggest fights of 2012.

Coming off of a career-defining win over Eric Morel on September 15 in which he handed the former world champion his first ever knockout loss, IBF Bantamweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz (21-0-1, 12 KO's) of Lincoln Heights, Calif. will jump right back into the ring on November 10 eager to keep the momentum going. Just 24 years old, “Teremoto” went from prospect to champion in 2012, when he stopped veteran Alejandro Hernandez in January and then won his first world title in June with a dominant win over Vusi Malinga. Now with the fifth round stoppage over Morel under his belt, the sky's the limit for this young Mexican-American phenom.

A devastating puncher with a pressure-filled style that has broken down many of the junior middleweight division's top contenders, Alfredo Angulo's (20-2, 17 KO's) only goal left is to win world championship gold. Originally from Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, but now fighting out of Los Angeles, Calif., the 30-year-old contender has been chomping at the bit to return to the ring for the first time since his candidate for “Fight of the Year” war with James Kirkland in 2011. With the immigration issues that kept him out of the ring since that fight cleared up, he is ready to return and prepared to show that he still has the exciting form that saw him finish Joachim Alcine, Gabriel Rosado, Harry Joe Yorgey and Joel Julio.

Nicknamed “El Tigre” for his ferocious attacking style in the ring, Edinburg, Texas' Raul Casarez (19-2, 9 KO's) is unbeaten since 2006, and on November 10 he has the opportunity he has been waiting his entire career for, to fight on SHOWTIME against a highly-rated contender. For the 25-year-old, a win over Angulo will not only extend his 11-fight unbeaten streak, which includes a March win over J.C. Candelo, but it will place him among the top contenders in the division and put him on the fast track to a world title shot.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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