On November 10th, boxing fans will get a chance to see 2 of the top tier super bantamweights in the world square off as Anselmo Moreno faces Abner Mares in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, a fight that was announced on ThaBoxingVoice podcast show just a month ago. Along with Nonito Donaire, Guillermo Rigondeaux, and Toshiaka Nishioka, who will face Nonito Donaire October 13th in the Home Depot Center in California, Moreno and Mares are 2 of the top 5 super bantamweights in the world, even though Moreno has yet to fight at this weight.
That 27 year old Panamanian, and WBA World Bantamweight Champion, Anselmo Moreno (33-1-1 with 12 KOs) is 1 of the most technically sound and skilled fighters in the sport today. He has dominated the 118 lbs division for the past year and as I said before, this will be his 1st fight at 122 lbs; however, it is not expected to inhibit his effectiveness. His only blemishes are from 10 years ago when he had a draw in his 6th career fight and then a controversial loss in his 7th career fight, which was also 10 years ago. Since then, Moreno has run off 28 straight wins and has long waited for his chance to get a bigger fight against some of the best in the world.
Moreno started to step into the view of many hardcore boxing fans after he defeated Vic Darchinyan, a fighter that is well respected and known as a tough guy that won’t give up. The fight was Moreno’s 1st ever fight in the United States. After that, he fought again in the United States as he faced the tough Mexican David De La Mora, and surprisingly, Moreno, a person definitely not known for his power, stopped De La Mora by TKO in the 9th round. Since that fight Moreno has made it know that he wants to fight and beat the best in the world, calling out such names as Nonito Donaire and saying he would even fight Guillermo Rigondeaux, but 1st, enter Abner Mares
The 26 year old undefeated Mexican, and current WBC Super Bantamweight holder, Abner Mares (24-0-1 with 13 KOs) is also a very technical and highly skilled fighter. This is going to be Mares’ 7th fight in the last 30 months as he has gone through a brutal schedule of fights, which included a controversial draw to Yonnhy Perez, a close split decision to Vic Darchinyan, 2 hard fought fights against fights against Joseph Agbeko, and then the domination of Eric Morel in his last fight in April. That fight ironically, was on the same card as the Moreno-De La Mora fight, as they were the co-feature, which at the time gave you a sense that this fight had to eventually happen.
Mares is known as 1 of the warriors of the sport because of his attitude towards the sport. He seemingly will fight anyone, anywhere, at anytime, and not complain about it. It’s the reason that hardcore boxing fans respect him and know that he will never cheat them as a viewer of any fight he is involved in. So far not only has Mares taken on all newcomers, but he has defeated and turned against each 1 of them. Just like Moreno, Mares is not known for his power, so he also depends a lot on not only his skill and technical boxing, but his biggest attribute, his heart. This is the type of fight that could get Mares some more of the spotlight that he deserves.
Both of these fighters have a lot to gain with this fight, both at in the prime of their careers, both have been and are current champions, and both would like a shot a Nonito Donaire and even though a win may not get them there due to their promotional teams. It still would mean a lot in the eyes of boxing fans to see who will come out on top in this one. Can Moreno prove that he is as dominant at 122 as he was at 122? Can Mares stay undefeated and grab a bigger claim as 1 of the best 122 lb guys in the world? Will we ever see Nonito Donaire fight either 1 of these 2 fighters anytime in the near future? We’ll get the answer to 2 of these 3 questions on November 10th when Anselmo Moreno and Abner Mares put on a technical boxing bout that should have us all talking.
