AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Stated Mares, “I could tell he felt my power and my aggression. I couldn’t let him get comfortable with his style. I made it my fight tonight.”
This in comparison to his counterpart Moreno, who although landing well in spots, was in retreat mode much of the time, throwing the less effective punches that Mares would mainly walk through.
A disappointed challenger would comment, “the fight should have been closer. I’m unhappy that one of the judges didn’t even give me one round. But Abner’s a great champion. He’s very strong and I got caught by his shots. I was careless and went down, but it was a great fight for the people and I’m happy for that. But it’s not over yet, I’m still a champion at 118 pounds, I’ll be back.”
In the end, defeating Moreno for the first time in a little over 10 years while dropping the highly ranked fighter for the first time ever was quite a thrill for the Mexican champion, so that in looking forward, Mares would love nothing more than to get it on with Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire in a potential title unification bout.
Concluded Abner, “I want to fight Nonito next. I want to fight the best. I want to keep stepping up. I know my side wants that fight. It’s up to their promotional company to make it happen. Oscar said he’d drive and knock on Arum’s door to make it happen.”
Santa Cruz successfully defends title with 9th round kayo
In the co-main event in what would amount to an IBF bantamweight title defense, current undefeated champion Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz (22-0-1, 13 KO’s) of Los Angeles, California would in a competitive bout finally stop game opponent and IBF #9 ranked challenger Victor “Nene” Zaleta (20-3-1, 10 KO’s ) of El Paso, Texas by ninth round KO. The official time was 1:42.
Zaleta in giving a terrific account of himself in going at it with the champion every step of the way was simply at a disadvantage in the power department, as the blows of Santa Cruz in landing more forcefully would back and visibly wear on Victor over the course of action.
Zaleta dropped in the fourth and then seventh rounds from what has become a go-to left hook to the body from Santa Cruz, would see the champion keep the pressure on to then catch Victor coming with a hard right to the chin in the ninth frame that would drop the challenger for the final time.
Stated Santa Cruz post-fight, “he’s a really strong fighter and no one has ever stopped him. I would like to fight the winner of the next bout [Mares-Moreno], but I want to have one or two more fights to get some experience.”
Angulo returns in a big way
After a seven month detention at the hands of Immigration Services and little more than a year out of the ring, Alfredo Angulo (21-2, 18 KO’s) of Los Angeles, California by way of Mexicali, Mexico in a scheduled twelve round special attraction would once again hear the chants of “El Perro.”
Upon the sounding of the opening bell, hard hitting Alfredo would go to work, touching little known opponent Raul Casarez (19-3, 9 KO’s) of Edinburg, Texas with right hands, to then land a thudding left hook to end matters forthwith at 0:56 seconds of the very first round.
Stated Angulo, “there was so much emotion today. I had a lot of pressure, but I felt good with the win. With James Kirkland, I wasn’t prepared adequately, but I still knew I had a future in boxing.”
Showtime Extreme and undercard results
In the main event of the Showtime Extreme telecast for the WBO light heavyweight title, defending champion Nathan Cleverly (25-0, 12 KO’s) of Cefn, Fforest,Wales in his second and most significant appearance on U.S. soil would maintain his belt, as well as keep his undefeated record intact with the KO victory over a game but overmatched challenger in Native American Shawn Hawk (22-3-1, 16 KO’s) of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The official end came at 1:53 of round 8.
Straight out of the Joe Calzaghe school of letting his hands fly, Cleverly would reduce Hawk to a punching bag, landing perhaps at a 3 to 1 clip if not more to redden Shawn’s face early on. With Hawk hanging in to land a blow here and there in the face of what amounted to an onslaught, the Welshman would begin to find success downstairs towards the midway point of this scheduled twelve rounder.
Initially stunning his opponent with body shots, Cleverly would on two separate occasions follow up on those body blows with quick-fisted combinations to drop Hawk once, and then twice in round 7. Smelling blood in the water, Nathan would pick up where he left off in the ensuing round, depositing his adversary on the canvass yet again which would prompt the referee to intervene on behalf of the visibly worn Shawn Hawk.
With the win Cleverly is expected to have a mandatory title defense perhaps in Germany, where upon if he is successful, a match up with the legendary Bernard Hopkins in the Champion’s native United Kingdom may be on the table.
In welterweight action, the slightly taller Danny Escobar (8-2, 5 KO’s) of Riverside, California would give up that height, wading in to shorter undefeated opponent Antonio Orozco (16-0, 12 KO’s) of San Diego, California where Orozco would get the better of it in exchanges all night long.
In finality Antonio would stop the game Escobar at 2:06 of round 6, initially stunning the Riverside fighter with a left hook to the jaw, to then back Danny to the ropes where he would become further victimized with hard right hands delivered by Orozco, to finish matters with a another smashing left hook that would drop Escobar in a heap.
In a scheduled four-rounder in the lightweight division, the lengthier, harder hitting, and more offensive minded Robert Easter of Cincinnati, Ohio in his pro debut would stop outgunned opponent Eddie Corona of Omaha, Nebraska who drops to 0-2. The end came at 2:38 of the second round as Easter moves to 1-0.
Bantamweight’s David Reyes of Montebello, California (2-2-1) and Isaac Torres of Mission, Texas (2-0-1, 2 KO’s) would go at it in as evenly matched a bout as possible, so that the final verdict over the course of four semi-busy rounds would result in a majority draw. The scores by fights end would read 39-37 Torres, and 38-38 twice.
At welterweight, a more versatile and mobile Zachary Wohlman (4-1-1, 1 KO) of Hollywood, California would out-box, and run into shots opponent Alonso Loeza (3-7-1, 3 KO’s) of Gilroy, California over the first 2 and ½ rounds, only to get caught and dropped at the end of round 3. An out on his feet Wohlman would be allowed to return to his corner, whereupon coming out for the fourth and final round he’d immediately be pounced upon by Loeza who would seal the deal by KO at 0:17.
In a scheduled 6-round middleweight attraction, undefeated up-and-comer and Al Haymon managed Chris Pearson (6-0, 5 KO’s) of Trotwood, Ohio would make short work of opponent Jeremy Marts (8-13, 6 KO’s) of Ottumwa, IA, landing a fight finishing right hook at 0:44 seconds of the opening round.
To begin the day’s action, super middleweight Luis Arias (1-0) of Las Vegas, Nevada in his pro debut would over the course of four rounds outwork and out-do Cincinnati, Ohio’s Joshua Thorpe (1-2), resulting in a unanimous decision victory.
