Battle On The Border: Mares Overpowers Morel, Wins By Unanimous Decision

After a long and hard-fought ?Battle on the Border? for the vacant WBC super bantamweight world title, Abner Mares clutched his new belt and declared, ?This one?s for Mexico.?

Mares, who won by unanimous decision after 12 rounds, said after the fight he just wanted to give boxing fans a good fight. And that?s what fans at the Don Haskins Center got on Saturday.

?I?m really happy,? said Mares. ?It?s a dream come true.?

The fight, which was was broadcast on Showtime, not only put the former Mexican Olympian and IBF bantamweight champion against two-time world champion Eric ?Little Hands of Steel? Morel, but it pitted boxing foes Mexico and Puerto Rico.

And through it all, Mares attacked, connecting 231 power punches, all fueled by chants of, ?Mexico! Mexico! Mexico!?

?That?s what they say, that I just throw and throw punches. I just kept going and going,? Mares said.

He did. Mares landed 43 percent of his punches, but he landed 56 percent of his power punches. Morel landed only 24 percent of his punches. And those punches went on until the last second, sending the 4,278 in attendance into a frenzy.

Even though Mares never let the older Morel get into a groove, Morel stayed in it, and he appeared fresher as the fight progressed, landing some of his heaviest blows in the later rounds.

Before the fight, the 36-year-old Morel said if he lost, he would not make age his excuse. He didn?t have to.

?Like I said, I?m not gonna make excuses for my age,? Morel said after the fight. ?I?m 36 or 37 or whatever. If I was an old fighter he (Mares) would have taken me out in the second round.?

Morel said he was surprised by the sheer power with which Mares was hitting. Mares was also faster and stronger and more aggressive as expected. The more experienced Morel played it more conservatively.

?He threw a lot of good punches,? Morel said of Mares, who improves his professional record to 24-0-1 and with 13 knockouts. ?He just came with everything. He?s young. But no excuses.?

Morel falls to 46-3 (23 knockouts).

?Even though he lost, he won because he gave a good fight,? Mares said of Morel.