MASAM SPORTS 74: ABNER MARES DRAWS WITH MIGUEL FLORES
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 05 Sep 2022
Abner Mares, the former three-division world titlist, was not able to win his first fight in four years, and fought to a majority draw with Miguel Flores. Judge Rudy Barragan scored it 96-94 for Mares while Patrick Russell saw it 95-95 and Zachary Young also had it 95-95 for the majority draw after ten rounds at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
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Before Sunday, Mares' last fight was a repeat defeat to Leo Santa Cruz in their June 2018 WBA featherweight title fight rematch. He first lost to Sta. Cruz in August 2015. Mares is from Guadalajara, Mexico and now fights out of Hawaiian Gardens, California. He was scheduled to challenge then-undefeated WBA junior lightweight champion Gervonta "Tank" Davis in February 2019 but fight was cancelled after Mares suffered a detached retina.
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The eye injury had him underwent surgery which caused him a four-plus year hiatus. Mares fought at a career heaviest 134.2 pounds but he dominated Flores, connecting right hands. Flores knocked Mares off balance landing with a left hook and followed by an overhand right and a right uppercut.
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Both fighters exchanged blows in round two. Mares delivered a barrage of punches, shaking Flores as he retaliated with two rights on the chin of Mares. Flores was staggered by a hard right followed up by a counter left hook.
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In round three, Mares moved as Flores chased him inside the ring. Flores hoped to snatched Mares with a right hand but was not able to pin catch his grizzled opponent.
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The 30-year-old Mexican from Houston connected several punches to the body in the fourth round. Flores continued landing jabs in round five. Mares answered with an overhand right as Flores trapped him against the ropes.
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Mares conserved his stamina at the second half of the fight. Flores was the busier fighter this time, as he fought more of an inside fight to which Mares cleverly clinched to slow down the action. Flores outpunched Mares in round seven, connected a strong right hand that penetrated Mares’ defense all the way to the chin.
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Flores (25-4-1, 12KOs) was the more active fighter in the final two rounds, with Mares already slowing down. When the verdict came, Mares' record improved to 31-3-2 (15KOs).
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All-time Scoring Leaders :
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 38,387 Points
2. LeBron James - 37,062 Points
3. Karl Malone - 36,928 Points
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Abdul-Jabbar will likely have his record surpassed by the end of the next season. During the first three years of his career, Abdul-Jabbar lead the league with total points. He had five straight seasons with at least 2,000 points or more. He had a career-high of 2,822 points during the 1971-72 season. That belongs to the nine total seasons that saw him scored at least 2,000 points.
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LeBron James is catching up that record. Last year, James scored 1,695 total points. Granting he can score that total points, he could problem surpass Abdul-Jabbar in 2023. James tallied 10 seasons with at least 2,000 points. His career-high 2,251 total points was when he played with the Cavaliers in the 2017-18 season.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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