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HBO Boxing After Dark Recap

November 17, 2007

Borgata Hotel Casino-Atlantic City, New Jersey

WBO NABO Bantamweight (118 pounds) 12 Round Championship Match:

Abner Mares (14-0, 9 KO's, 118 pounds) (c) vs. Damian David Marchiano (15-2-1, 5 KO's, 116 pounds)

The champion won this title when it was vacant via technical knockout at 3:00 of round 7 over Isidro Garcia on September 7, 2007 at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona. The previous champion was Jhonny Gonzalez, who vacated this championship in 2005, because this is a largely meaningless alphabet soup title. (HBO did not even mention this was a championship match in promoting this event, despite mentioning he won the title on their website, because this title is irrelevant. At one point in the broadcast HBO color commentator Larry Merchant said, "I'm not sure why they are going championship rounds.  I guess there is some stupid belt they are fighting for." Mares is making his first defense of this title.

Mares was a decorated amateur, compiling a record of 112-8, with 84 of those wins coming by way of knockout. His amateur career was capped at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, where Mares represented Mexico in boxing at 119 pounds. Based on that early success as an amateur, Mares was used in advertising campaigns for yogurt and Coca-Cola. Shortly after the Olympics, Mares was signed by Oscar de la Hoya to Golden Boy Promotions, and turned pro on January 6, 2005.

Mares began his pro career at 122 pounds, but got sick and had his appendix removed. That has allowed him to move down in weight to 118 pounds, and the champion says his conditioning for this match will be fine.

The champion's last match was the victory over Garcia.

The resident of Montebello, California is unranked by The Ring magazine, but the number 23 ranked boxer at 118 pounds by boxrec.com.

The challenger is boxing for the first time as a pro outside of Argentina. Mares' results in Argentina, despite the good win-loss numbers have been poor. He only has 1 win versus coming in on win streaks greater then 2. Mares has been knocked down at least 6 times by weak opposition. Two of those knockdowns came in round 1 and 2 more of them came in round 2. The challenger does have some resilience, having only been stopped once, despite having a very suspect chin.

Marchiano last match was a 10 round unanimous decision over Diego Jose Reimundo Hernandez in Buenos Aires, Argentina on February 17, 2007. The match results are not verified on boxrec.com, and Argentina apparently does not use the unified rules of boxing. Marchiano was knocked down in round 2, 10, and received a standing 8 count in round 10. However, he still won the match: 98-94.5, 98-94.5, 99-94. (I do not know how a .5 is scored in boxing. If anyone knows what rules are being used in Argentina please email me.)

The native Argentinean is unranked by The Ring magazine, but the number 27 ranked boxer at 122 pounds by boxrec.com.

Mares holds the age advantage at 21-years-old, compared to the 27-year-old Marchiano. Marchiano has the height advantage standing 5' 6" tall, while Mares stands 5' 5" tall. The champion has the reach advantage with an arm length of 23" measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, and the challenger has a 23" arm length measured the same way. Both after rehydrating both boxers are unofficially up to 120 pounds approaching match time. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match. The referee is Sparkle Lee. Two of the official judges scoring this match from ringside are from Pennsylvania, and the other is from New Jersey.  Keeping unofficial score for HBO will be Harold Lederman.

Mares show tremendous hand speed and a great work rate in round 1. The champion wins round 1 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Marchiano needs to make a defensive change quickly or it will be a short night for him. According to CompuBox, Mares landed 44 total punches in round 1. Of the 44 total punches Mares landed in round 1, 30 of those punches were power connects to a boxer with a questionable chin. There is blood coming from the nose of Mares in the last minute of round 2. In round 2, Marchiano wound up and landed some good punches, but was committing some blatant and vicious fouls. The challenger was warned once for hitting behind the head, but got away with flagrant punches to the back of Mares' head a few other times. I also think Marchiano attempted to throw a weak elbow to the head of Mares during a clinch, but I'm not sure it connected. Mares gets the edge in a close round 2, because of not fouling and wins it on my scorecard, 10-9. Lederman scores round 2 for Marchiano, 10-9. Mares wins round 3, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 3 rounds, 30-27. The champion's nose is bleeding badly, and it must be effecting his breathing. If his corner cannot stop the bleeding, the situation will become much more problematic the longer the match goes. Lederman scored round 3 for Mares, 10-9, and has the champion winning the match after 3 rounds, 29-28. Merchant has Mares winning the match after 3 rounds, 30-27.

After round 3, former Boxing Commissioner for the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, Larry Hazzard, Sr., is shown in attendance at this event, not looking happy after being removed from his position earlier this week. Hazzard had been the commissioner in New Jersey for the last 22 years. I think Dave may have more on this story in an upcoming newsletter.

Mares wins round 4, 10-9. Lederman scored round 4 the same. Mares wins round 5 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. According to CompuBox, in round 5 Mares landed 34 of the 47 power punches he threw, for a nearly unprecedented 72% power connect percentage for the round. With 1:24 to go in round 4, Mares sends Marchiano crumpling to the mat following a punishing left hook to the marbles (now likely grapefruits). Mares follows up with a right hand to the head of Marchiano, while the challenger is down on his knees. That causes Mariano to turtle on the mat. Mares is warned for the accidental low blow, while Marchiano takes some time to walk off the effects of the punch to his gonads. However, Mares was not warned for throwing a punch to the downed challenger, which is strange and the more flagrantly intentional of the fouls. After about 1 minute the match is restarted.  Marchiano came back to have a good flurry at the end of the round, but Mares still won round 6, 10-9. In round, 6 Mares landed 32 of the 50 power punches he threw, for a 64% power connect percentage in the round. In round 6,  Marchiano landed 15 of the 56 power punches he threw, for a 27% power connect percentage in the round. After 6 rounds, Mares leads on my scorecard 60-54. On replay, it appears the punch from Mares that sent Marchiano to the mat was on the challenger's belt line. Marchiano then did some embellishing and grabbed his cup going down. The proper call should have been a knockdown, and it is unlikely Marchiano could have answered the referee's 10 count. Lederman scored round 6 for Mares, and has the champion winning the match after 6 rounds, 59-55.

Round 7 is Marchiano's best round since round 2. It is probably still not good enough to win the round. Mares wins round 7, 10-9. After round 7, Marchiano's corner told their boxer that he "had the match won," and that he "was fighting against the ref." It is unclear what match they are watching. Lederman awarded Mares round 7 on his scorecard, 10-9. With 32 seconds to go in round 8, Mares hit Marchiano with a punch on the hip, which the challenger responded to by turning around and walking away. The punch was low, but not a foul that would necessitate stopping the action for, or allow a boxer to turn his back and walk away. The referee ordered Marchiano to turn back around and resume boxing. (Marchiano is double frustrated with this referee, partially because she does not speak Spanish, and I believe the fact that it is a female referee is also bothering the challenger.) Mares wins round 8, 10-9. Mares has never been past round 8. Blood is streaming from the champions nose before action begins to start round 9. Lederman scores round 8 for Mares, 10-9. Mares wins round 9 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Both of our scorecards have Mares winning after 9 rounds. Lederman has Mares winning, 89-82, and my scorecard has Mares winning 90-81.

There is an accidental clash of heads with 1:35 to go in round 10, and Marchiano, again turned his back on Mares and walked away. The crowd vociferously booed the challenger for that, which is the first noise they have made in a long time. Mares wins round 10 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Near the end of round 10, Marchiano complained about another perceived low blow. The referee let the challenger know he was imagining things and to keep boxing. Apparently there is a larger pay check for signing for a scheduled 12 round match instead of a 10 round match, which is why Mares' work with the heavy bag is continuing. Marchiano for his effort is receiving the largest payday of his career to date (and likely ever after this performance) of roughly $25,000, but because this is boxing it is unclear how much of that the challenger will actually get to keep for himself. With 29 seconds to go in round 11, the referee deducts 1 point from Mares for a low blow. That point looks to have been earned by the complaining and embellishing of Marchiano, because no punch landed that appeared worthy of a deduction and Mares had never been given a firm "last chance" warning. Lederman and I score the round even, 9-9. Through 11 rounds, Mares has landed 303 of the 504 power punches he has thrown, for a 60% power connect percentage. Through 11 rounds, Marchiano has landed 120 of the 529 power punches he has thrown, for a 23% power connect percentage. On replay, it shows that the punch that Mares was penalized for was low, because the champion was hit while he was throwing the punch pushing his hand down. That was a poor reason to deduct a point. The referee in this match has actually been very generous with Marchiano despite all of his whining. Marchiano was hurt at several points in round 12, and arguably could have been scored as knocked down when he fell into the ropes at one point. Mares wins round 12 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-8. Bob Papa doing play-by-play for HBO, also scored round 12 for Mares, 10-8. The Los Angeles area resident wins the match on my scorecard, 119-107. The champion wins the match on Lederman's scorecard, 118-108.

Marchiano jumped up in a corner to celebrate like he won after the match and received a hearty boo from the crowd.

The official decision as read by Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored the match: 118-109, 118-109, 117-109, all for the winner by unanimous decision, still undefeated, and still the WBO NABO Bantamweight Champion, Abner Mares. The win moves Mares to 15-0, with 9 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have the champion landing 276 of the 1060 total punches he threw, for a 45% total connect percentage. Mares landed 347 of the 580 power punches he threw, for a ridiculous 60% power connect percentage. Marchiano landed 165 of the 842 total punches he threw, for a 20% total connect percentage. The Argentinean landed 127 of the 569 power punches he threw, for a 22% power connect percentage.

Mares looked great and a step up in competition is needed to see more of what he can do.

Marchiano showed a surprisingly good chin in this match, but not much else. Going back to Argentina to refine his game and work on his focus in the ring may be the best immediate course of action for him.

Skip this match, it is boring.