By Sam Gregory: The co-main event of tonight’s May 22nd edition of Showtime Championship Boxing features undefeated IBF bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez 20-0 with 14 KO’s who is defending his title for the first time against another unbeaten bantamweight Abner Mares 20-0 with 13 KO’s in a scheduled 12 round bout in the bantamweight division.

At the opening bell both men came out using their jab; Mares countered off Perez’ jab and landed a solid right hook. In the last 15 seconds of the first round Mares was able to turn his punches over landing a few solid shots with Perez on the ropes.

Early in round two Mares caught Perez off balance landing a few solid shots that pushed Perez’ back to the ropes. Perez landed a shot that caught Mares on the chin prompting Mares to tie up for the first time in the fight. Both men exchanged punches working on the inside; Mares’ back was on the ropes when the round came to an end.

After the start of round three it didn’t take long before both men were exchanging jabs from the center of the ring. Perez countered off Mares’ jab digging hard and deep with paralyzing body punches. With just over 10 seconds left in the round Mares ties up, punched out of the clinch and caught Perez with a solid body shot; Perez countered and landed a devastating body shot to the approval of the crowd.

Early in round 4 Mares landed a punch that rocked Perez. Both men fought in close digging deep with uppercuts to the body, occasionally an uppercut would catch the opponent on the chin and rock his head back. Mares was the busier puncher landing a higher number of combinations while Perez landed the harder punches.

In round five Mares used his lateral movement to avoid punches; Perez caught up with Mares, both men went toe to toe fighting on the inside from the center of the ring. Perez seemed to have more stamina pushing and muscling Mares forward until the end of the round.

Between rounds ringside commentators compared scores; Perez was ahead by one round

Round 6 was a very even round with none stop action. Perez continued to dig to the body working to wear down his opponent.

In round seven Perez continued putting his punches together; Perez landed a beautiful looping right hand to the approval of the crowd. Mares kept moving side to side trying to throw Perez off balance. This was a very close round with both men landing an equal number of punches.

In round eight Perez came out the aggressor landing a solid left jab; Mares countered off the jab throwing a combination that was mostly blocked by Perez. Perez landed a beautiful right hand that connected solid to the approval of the crowd.

In round nine both men were letting their hands go; Mares seemed to get his second wind picking up the pace dramatically; Mares connected with big shots in the second half of the round.

In round 10 Mares had Perez against the ropes. Perez fought back hard while Mares landed a solid shot to the body that rocked Perez. Mares landed a combination that hurt Perez; both men went toe to toe until the end of the round.

In round 11 Mares was outpunching Perez landing solid shots to the body. Both men were in the center of the ring exchanging punches going toe to toe letting their hands go. At the end of the round Mares had visible swelling above his right eye.

In the 12th and final round both men exchanged punches from the center of the ring; Perez got the better of the exchange; Mares began moving across the ring to avoid punches. Perez caught up to Mares and a flurry of punches followed. Mares landed a big left hook that backed Perez into the ropes. Both men were going toe to toe when in the last ten seconds of the round Mares caught Perez with a shot that staggered the champ. The fight ended in dramatic fashion with both men throwing a flurry of punches until the closing bell.

After the 12th and final round the fight went to the judge’s scorecards: the first card had Mares winning 115-113. The two final cards had it 114-114 for a majority draw.