Abner Mares floored former sparring partner and 127-pound rival Arturo Santos Reyes in the second round Saturday night on the way to winning a 10-round unanimous decision in the debut of the Premier Boxing Champions series on NBC.
Abner Mares' second-round knockdown of Arturo Santos Reyes set the tone in his win Saturday night.
Mares (29-1-1, 15 KOs) set the tone in that round and outhustled the game Reyes (18-5, 5 KOs) winning 96-93, 98-91 and 99-90 on the three judges’ cards.
It was Mares’ first fight since a three-knockdown, fifth-round technical knockout of Jose Ramirez in December.
In Reyes, Mares was in against a fighter who has never been knocked out, and who had gone the distance in losses to former titleholders Fernando Montiel and Hozumi Hasegawa, as well as contender Simpiwe Vetyeka.