Mares vs. Gonzalez and Santa Cruz vs. Terrazas close for Aug. 24 on Showtime

Abner Mares vs Anselmo MorenoEspn.com writer Dan Rafael is reporting that a Championship doubleheader featuring Abner Mares vs. Jhonny Gonzalez and Victor Terrazas vs. Leo Santa Cruz is very close to being official. The fights would take place on August 24th and be broadcasted by Showtime Sports.

Since Golden Boy Promotions recently won the purse bid for the Terrazas vs. Santa Cruz fight, which will open up the broadcast, the only thing left is finalizing the fight between all action fighter Abner Mares and former champion Jhonny Gonzalez.

From the sounds of it the fight is just a matter of days away from being done. On Tuesday night Golden Boy C.E.O Richard Schafer told ESPN.com “There are no particular outstanding issues with Mares and Gonzalez. Both fighters want to fight and I’m just trying to finalize everything.”

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Alvarez stops Lopez; Maidana TKOs Soto-Karass; De Leon defeats Gonzalez

Alvarez stops Lopez; Maidana TKOs Soto-Karass; De Leon defeats Gonzalez(Photos: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME) By Rob Smith: In a positively sick mismatch that should have never been made in the first place, WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) absolutely annihilated welterweight Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KO’s) by a 5th round TKO on Saturday night in one of Alvarez’s easier title defenses at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Alvarez knocked Lopez down three times, once in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds from body and head shots. Lopez, who looked soft in the midsection, had problems with Alvarez’s body shots. Alvarez obviously spotted the the coat of fat that Lopez had put on around his waist in moving up from welterweight in three months.

In the 5th, Alvarez finished off the hapless Lopez and referee Joe Cortez stepped in to halt the slaughter at 2:55 of the round.

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