by Paul Strauss: Super bantamweight Abner Mares 25 (KO 13)-0-1 literally ran after southpaw Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno 33 (KO 12)-2-1 Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA . He was determined to keep, for the most part, Moreno from getting set and displaying his masterful boxing skills. It’s one thing for a boxer to say he’s going to pressure his opponent and get him out of his game plan. It’s another to actually carry it out, and to such an extent that one judge thought the fight was a shutout.
That judge, James Jen-Kin, was in the minority. Most, including ringside commentators Al Bernstein, Steve Farhood and guest Paulie Malignaggi, all thought Moreno, who hasn’t been beaten in ten years, had managed to keep the fight much closer, despite being knocked down in the fifth and penalized a point in the eleventh for pulling Mares’ head down. The usually calm Bernstein got a little frustrated with what he thought were unfair tactics by Mares. Specifically, he felt Mares was deliberately lowering his head, bull rushing Moreno, and letting go with low-blows. Others chimed in that Moreno was pulling Mares’ head down; hence, the low blows. In fact, as previously mentioned, Moreno was the one who got penalized for doing so.
By Rob Smith: Vanes Martirosyan (32-0-1, 20 KO’s) and Erislandy Lara (17-1-2, 11 KO’s) will have to do it again after fighting to 9 round technical draw in their WBC 154 pound eliminator bout on Saturday night at the Wynn Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The fight was stopped in the 9th round when Martirosyan suffered a nasty cut over his left eye when he banged heads with the 29-year-old Lara, causing the fight to be stopped and go to the judges cards.
(Photo: Showtime) By Michael Montero: The crowd at Staples Center was pumped for the main event, cheering local favorite Abner Mares as he faced off against Anselmo Moreno, the crafty veteran from Panama. Mares, originally of Mexico but now living in Hawaiian Gardens, California, was making the first defense of his WBC 122 pound title. Moreno, the former longtime bantamweight titlist, had moved up in weight for a crack at a title in a second division.
By Michael Collins: In a fight that was somewhat interesting to watch during portions of the action, IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) defeated a way out of his depth Mariusz Wach (27-1, 15 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight at the O2 World Arena in Hamburg, Germany. The only round you could possibly give to the 32-year-old Wach was the 5th when he landed a good hand to the head of Wladimir after backing him up agaisnt the ropes.
By James Slater: Tonight in Liverpool, fans were settling into a fight that might well have developed into a most memorable slugfest. Instead, after the wholly unsatisfactory stoppage that took place in the 2nd-round, fans were left with an unforgettable TKO – one of the most shockingly premature you could wish to name.
By Joseph Herron: If we learned anything tonight at the Fantasy Springs Resort & Casino in Indio, California, Gary Russell Jr. (21-0, 13 KOs) is one bad dude and will more than likely become a world champion at either 126 or 130 pounds in 2013.
By Joseph Herron — Tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Abner Mares will defend his WBC Super Bantamweight title against slick southpaw Anselmo Moreno of Panama, in the main event of a Showtime Champion Boxing triple-header.