In a highly anticipated rematch of one of the year’s most talked about and exciting fights, unbeaten rising star Abner Mares will defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Council (WBC) Silver Bantamweight Championship titles against the boxer he dethroned, former two-time IBF 118-pound champion Joseph King Kong Agbeko, in the main event on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING on Saturday, Dec. 3, live at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
In the co-featured world championship bout, Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno will defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) Bantamweight Super Championship against Two-Division World Champion Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan.
Tickets for Mares vs. Agbeko II, priced at $150, $100, $50 and $25, are on sale now at all Ticketmaster locations, online at ticketmaster.com and via charge-by-phone at 800-745-3000. Tickets are also available for sale at the Honda Center Box Office.
Mares (22-0-1, 13 KO’s) scored a hotly disputed 12-round majority decision over Agbeko (28-3, 22 KO’s) to win the SHOWTIME Bantamweight Tournament and IBF title last Aug. 13 in Las Vegas.
The summer slugfest featured many two-way exchanges with numerous swings in momentum. Mares and Agbeko combined to throw 1,394 punches in the fight. The fast-starting Mares connected on 318 of 732, while Agbeko landed on 231 of 662 and notably came on strong in the later rounds. Each fighter landed his share of big blows.
Their brave performances, however, were overshadowed by referee Russell Mora, who warned Mares several times for low blows throughout the fight yet never deducted a point. In the 11th round, the referee called a knockdown when Agbeko took a knee following a punch that appeared below the beltline.
When the final bell rang and the scores were totaled, Mares scored a majority decision victory by the scores of 115-111 twice and 113-113, however the controversy surrounding the fight was such that an immediate rematch was ordered by the IBF.
On Dec. 3, these two great champions will settle the score…
Moreno (31-1-1, 11 KO’s), 26, of Panama City, Panama, will fight for the first time since he signed with Golden Boy Promotions last August. He will be making his United States debutagainst Darchinyan (37-3-1, 27 KO’s), 35, a Sydney, Australia-based Armenian who has fought in Southern California X times in his career.
