Abner Mares Defeats Jesus Cuellar for the WBA Featherweight Title

By Jeffrey “Italian Medallion” Cellini

Saturday night, at the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles, California, Abner Mares, 30-2-1, 15 KO’s defeated Jesus Cuellar, 28-2, 21 KO’s by split decision to win the WBA World Featherweight title. Two judges scored in favor of Mares (117-110,116-111) while the third judge favored Cuellar (115-112).

Cuellar, attempting to bully Mares early on with his size, built an early lead utilizing his jab and strong counter left hand. However, Mares demonstrated good ability fighting off his backfoot and minimizing the southpaw’s aggressiveness. The three-division world champion began taking control of the contest midway through the fight when he began attacking the Argentinian’s body with his power shots.

Cuellar started to grow frustrated late in the bout and was unable to catch Mares cleanly late in the match, mainly due to the new champion’s defense. Mares was finally able to catch Cuellar in the 11th round and score the fight’s only knockdown. After taking two shots to the head with his back to the ropes, Mares landed a perfect straight right hand that caught Cuellar on the way in. Jesus fell backward from the punch, and moments later, he found himself in trouble as Mares trapped him on the ropes and the crowd going wild as he hid behind his guard.

The final punch statistics reflect how close the fight was throughout the contest. Abner Mares landed 217 punches out of 619 thrown (35.0%) while Jesus Cuellar landed only 171 punches out of 692 thrown. Conversely, Mares landed162 power punches, whereas Cuellar connected on 150 of his power shots in the contest. However, Mares landed 55 jabs compared to Cuellar who landed only 21 of his jabs.

Mares has definitely put himself into position for bigger fights within the featherweight division with the victory. “I never doubted myself. I felt it in my heart. When I fought Leo (Santa Cruz) I beat myself because I fought the wrong fight. I fought smart tonight. I thought it would be a unanimous decision, but at the end of the day I’m champion,” said Mares after the win. “They said he was a power puncher, they said he was going to knock me out, but I proved that I have some power, too. I want Leo (Santa Cruz), I want (Carl) Frampton, I want anyone. I’m a champion. I’m not afraid of anyone.”

Cuellar thought he did enough to win the fight and wants a rematch with Mares.“I thought the fight was pretty even until he threw me down, and that’s when he took control,” he said. “He definitely had the boxing skills going today. I would have preferred a rough fight, but Mares had his skills today. I want a rematch. I gave him the opportunity and now I think it’s fair that he gives it to me.”

[si-contact-form form=’2′]