Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko held their conference call Wednesday afternoon. While many had hoped to speak with both fighters, Mares was the only one to speak with the media as Joesph Agbeko failed to get on the call. As to why Agbekowas not on the call, his promoter Don King had no answer, so Mares spoke to the media for about 20 minutes.
Mares who won the first match up in questionable fashion with numerous low blows that went uncontested by the referee Russell Mora in August. The low blows also helped Mares scored a knock down on his way to winning a majority decision that night. Mares were candid and acknowledged, “It was not my intention to hit him low like that and I didn’t mean to hit him there.”
While most questions directed to Mares was about how he would try to avoid going too low, he stated “I’m a perfectionist and I’m definitely going to go to the body. I’m going to throw a lot of body punches, if I see that the ref is saying my punches are too low then I’m going to stop doing it.”
Mares admitted when he was asked about 11th round knock down, that he thought he was going to be deducted a point by the referee , but when he turned around in the corner he noticed that the ref was counting ,there was nothing he could do (to change the call). Mares stated that he is looking forward to this rematch and looking like the Mares that controlled the first couple of rounds in their first bout, he also stated he will not allow Agbeko to get back in the fight this time around.
Mares in the end stated “I can’t wait till Dec. 3, so I can show everyone what Abner Mares is made of.”
Also on the call was Vic Darchinyan a fighter who lost to both Mares and Agbeko. Vic had a chance to speak in the beginning of the call and Vic fashion was being his usual confident self. Vic had some choice words for Mares, stating he wanted to “tear his head off” if they fought again, he also stated he wants a rematch with the winner of the Mares- Agbeko fight.
A fight Vic believes that the next time around will be different.
Legendary promoter Don King, Joseph Agbeko’s promoter also made it to the conference call. He spoke about how he raised concerns to the Nevada State Athletic Commission about the ref for the Mares Agbeko fight and requested a different ref however the NSAC chose to stay with the original ref.
What I found interesting during the call was Mares stated that “he looked forward to beating Agbeko again” someone laughed; Whether or not it was laughing at the statement or something else completely, it felt that whomever laughed on the call- that it was directed to Abner’s comment.
All the laughs will come to an end December 3rd when Mares and Agbeko face off once again to see who the champion of the Showtime Bantamweight tournament is.
In the end, this is a great and well deserved rematch, both fighters have something to prove. Abner Mares needs to prove to the fans that he is not a dirty fighter. Agbeko looks to show everyone that he is the better fighter and would have won the first fight if it had not been for the referee and his unwillingness to penalize Mares.
Either way the fans should be in for a great fight December 3rd. Mares may have to overcome the stigma of throwing low blows all night and will have to outbox and keep most punches up top in order to avoid being called out by the ref in the fight. I expect the rematch to be close once again, with Mares pulling out Majority or Split Decision.