By Jose Sotomayor
An upset, by many is regarded as an unexpected result or situation, especially in a sports competition. Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson was an upset. Hasim Rahman vs. Lennox Lewis was an upset.
Many fans, writers, and analyst may see the Abner Mares (26-1-1, 14 KOs) loss as just a bump in the road. Others may look at it as biting off more than he can chew.
Coming into last nights fight, Mares was highly regarded as one of boxing’s pound-for-pound best boxers and the odds-on favorite to win. His aggressive and grueling fights have put him a torrid run towards obtaining championships in two divisions.
Looking to keep his word of fighting only the best and toughest opponents, Mares stepped into to the ring with the always tough and powerful Jhonny Gonzalez (55-8-0, 47 KO), who had lost the WBC title to Daniel Ponce De Leon and was looking to regain the belt, which Mares had recently taken from Ponce De Leon, in his previous fight.
For many young fans, it is easy to root for the undefeated fighter without showing any importance to the other fighter because of the number shown on the loss column.
Coming into the fight, Gonzalez had knocked out many of his opponents in his career. Mares’ last 6 fights, with the exception of the De Leon fight which ended in a TKO, were won on unanimous decisions, split decision, and majority decision.
So was this an upset?
Many may argue that is was. Others would argue that it was not. An argument can be made that it was an upset because Mares was accomplishing such a high level of achievements and looked strong and determined in doing so.
He has avoided no fighters, has taken the toughest fights, and had created a buzz of excitement around the boxing world. It seemed as if he was not just another boxer being brought up slowly by Golden Boy.
On the other hand, it was easy to overlook Jhonny Gonzalez, since he had eight losses on his record. In spite of that, how could someone disregard his KO percentage and experience in the ring?
It is important to remember that Mares was a former sparring partner to Gonzalez. Gonzalez is also trained by world-renowned trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, who also trains the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez.
Both warriors displayed class and respect for each other before and after the fight. Each fighter seemed to understand that the other possessed a great threat in the ring.
On this night, Gonzalez was the better boxer, and landed the devastating left hook that sent Mares to the mat.
An upset? It could be called just that.
One thing is for sure, these two will meet again very soon and there is no upset in that idea. If there was any upset last night, it was Golden Boy’s plans with Mares, which have now taken a step backwards.
Photos courtesy of Showtime/Esther Lin
Jose Sotomayor is a columnist for Round By Round Boxing. He can be reached at Jose@RoundByRoundBoxing.com.
