Mares Stops Almanza In 5th Round

Abner Mares (20-0, 13 KO’s) dazzled fans at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California by scoring a spectacular 5th round technical knockout over Felipe Almanza (19-15-3, 9 KO’s). Mares, 24, took this fight as a tune-up before he challenges Yonnhy Perez for the IBF Bantamweight Title on May 22nd, which will be the co-main event prior to Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez IV on Showtime.

Mares looked very sharp and exceptionally composed from the opening round, landing accurate, clear-cut punches and precisely placing them. In round one, Mares chased down Almanza and landed some stinging left hooks while Almanza was briefly on the ropes.

Mares continued to press the action in round two, unleashing punches that flowed particularly smooth. Mares never unloaded wasteful shots and caught Almanza with some combinations, even though Almanza was using a great deal of lateral movement.

Mares closed the gap in round three, and dropped Almanza after landing body shots and a well-timed left uppercut. From there, Mares stepped up his aggression and punch output. At one point, Mares connected with an overhand right to the head that briefly dazed Almanza.

Almanza’s lateral movement slowed in round four, which enabled Mares to thoroughly overwhelm him with a high volume of body and head shots. Mares utilized a lot of feints to set up some crisp, well-defined body punches later in the round.

Finally, Mares got rewarded for his hard work in the fifth round. Mares hurt Almanza with a short, left uppercut during an exchange in the corner. Then, Mares caught Almanza with a right uppercut when Almanza’s back was against the ropes. After absorbing more punishing shots from Mares, Almanza got hammered with another powerful right uppercut to the head that floored him. The referee stopped the bout at 2:23.

Mares looked more than ready to battle Yonnhy Perez (20-0, 14 KO’s) on May 22nd. Perez is a strong puncher with an accurate, stiff left jab, who throws a large amount of punches himself. However, Perez tends to stand in front of opponents longer, which is especially dangerous when dealing with the high volume and precise punching of Mares. Mares’ punches seem more fluid compared to Perez, and he uses much more lateral movement. Also, Mares won 2 of 3 fights from Perez in the amateurs. Look for Mares to quite possibly wear Perez down with his energy and explosive punch output, stopping him between the 8th and 10th rounds.