Abner Mares(22-0-1, 13 KOs) will fight Joseph Agbeko(28-3, 22 KOs) on December 3 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Mares, a Mexico native living in Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., won a majority decision from Ghana’s Agbeko in the first bout, but it was one of the most controversial fights of the year because of the heavily criticized performance of referee Russell Mora.
Mora called a questionable knockdown against two-time titleholder Agbeko in the first round when he went down on what looked like a slip. Mares also landed low blows repeatedly throughout the fight. Mora warned him for the infraction a few times, but never deducted any points — and eventually stopped warning him altogether.
But the real controversy came in the 11th round when Mora clearly missed a call, ruling another knockdown against Agbeko (28-3, 22 KOs) after Mares had slugged him with yet another low blow, this one a left hand directly in the groin. The botched call changed what had been a likely 10-9 round for Agbeko to a 10-8 round for Mares.
Ultimately, Mares (22-0-1, 13 KOs) claimed the belt via majority decision on scores of 115-111, 115-111 and 113-113. Watch Mares vs Agbeko Live Streaming here.
Watch Mares vs Agbeko Here
