Good to see this rematch finally happening, how does everybody think the rematch will go? I thought Mares would win easily before the first fight and while I had Mares win the first fight pretty comfortably, the rounds were very close and competitive and tougher than I expected for Mares.
Also, it will be interesting to see how Mares approaches this fight with his body/low blow attack. You would think that there will be a lot more focus on that for this fight, and wonder if Mares will ease up on the body work in this fight.
How does everybody think a rematch will go?

I will take Mares again to win the rematch. If Arum won't throw Donaire in with the winner of this fight, which doesn't look like he will, I would like to see Darchinyan rematch the winner of this fight.

I thought that Agbeko was starting to impose himself towards the end. I'm picking Agbeko, but it could go either way. Looking forward to yet another evening of great boxing.

This match-up always makes for an entertaining show and a great contribution to boxing...whether its a quarter moon, half moon, or a full moon. All we need in this fight is Lawrence Cole! Gotta love Lawrence Cole! He either let's you know your ahead on the scorecards when you're cut badly (like he told JMM in the Jimrex Jaca figt), or he let's you get beat to oblivion like did when Margarito got dusted by Pacman.

No more Russell Mora or Joe Cortez for a few months, please!

I think it could go either way but I think the fight comes down to can Mares make the necessary adjustments in the 2nd half of the fight to keep Agbeko from ripping shots on the inside. I think the first fight was a draw. Either way, we're going to witness another incredible night of boxing

I too am intrested in seeing the body attack strategy of Mares for this fight. I thought Agbeko was coming on strong in the fight and Mares was having trouble adjusting to the heat. It should be fun to watch.

Glad to see some other guys here have an intrest in a fight that is actually going to happen.

I think Mares wins a split decision. I think Agbeko has a chance too. It's really 50/50. Could the ref be overly cynical of Mares because of what happened with Mora in the first fight, where he will be faster with point deductions that could cost Mares the fight, setting up a trilogy? Keep that in mind.

Jack

I agree i think agbeko was coming on strong and bringing heat....I know this fight will be good i think agbeko can win if he just uses a little more defense than the first fight he'll edge him in a split decision....

Mares should take it by UD this time he's overall the better fighter.

I didn't even look at it from the next ref's standpoint...pretty sure he's gonna have a lot of pressure on him, including the added pressure that he may place on himself as well, since Mora did shitty job. When refs mess up that bad, its no room for the next ref to outshine him in the rematch...he simply has to do an up-right job and dare to make a mistake.



Agbeko was putting that pressure on Mares, then caught him with that nasty right hand that almost cleaned his clock. This time, Agbeko will more than likely have a fair shot with everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Great to see this rematch being made so quickly. Darchinyan vs. Moreno on the undercard sounds pretty nice as well.

According to Rafael Arum was very upset with Showtime for putting it on opposite Marg-Cotto 2 PPV.

Like others mentioned, Mares slowed down in the latter half of the fight, while Agbeko seemed to be picking it up, but his momentum was constantly being blunted by the ref.

Both guys are very smart fighters, and I expect them to make adjustments this time around. The fight might be a little less exciting, as I expect Mares to pace himself more in the early rounds while I expect Agbeko to do the opposite.

I disagree. I think the fight will go the same way with Mares starting fast and getting off first while dictating the pace of the fight. I was impressed with Agbekos speed and counter-punching but he relied heavily on looping his shots which resulted in rabbit punches and pulling mares head down. Mares is a more complete fighter with a much better ring iq imo. He dictated everything about the last fight fighting coming forward and getting off first to boxing in the middle of the ring and counter-punching. He implemented his game plan perfectly and had Agbeko confused at times. Mares by UD

If that were true then we wouldn't have seen Agbeko take over for most of the middle part of the fight. It was a very close fight.

i'd say agbeko should win this. even with the low blows agbeko kept mares away often.

Didn't realise Darchinyan was on the undercard, this is great.

Moreno's the guy Donaire was supposed to fight in May on HBO before the contract flap with GBP.

He's 31-1, 26 years old and according to boxrec 5'8". That could be a really good fight.

Any fight involving Vic Darchinyan is gonna be a good scrap! Win or lose!

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I would go further to say that were Mares appropriately punished for those nasty low blows, he would have lost that first fight. Mares was crying like a baby that Jim Gray was questioning him so hard and should please let him enjoy his moment of "victory." Jim Gray let him off lightly after that bitching.

As for the rematch, I would expect for the Agbeko that fought Yonnhy Perez to show up and retrieve the championship belt.

P34c3

i think it's wrong that the rematch is in cali. there's no way agbeko is going to get a fair shake from the ref or the judges unless they bring them in from outside cali. i seriously doubt that happens. agbeko has to win by ko just to get the decision.

Ahh...Gotta love Lawrence Cole he is great for boxing. Although he does have some premature stoppages on his resume, I loved his attitude on the Marg vs Pac fight. It was quite humorous to see him hold up 1 finger and ask Marg how many fingers was he holding up and still allow Pacquiao to almost end his career. Underrated ref, I agree he def should be on the Mares-Agbeko rematch fight.