Abner Mares got his start in boxing the way many others before him have; he followed in the footsteps of an older sibling. Mares put on his first pair of boxing gloves at only seven years of age and his star has risen ever since. Mares had a decorated amateur career, winning several gold and silver medals in competitions, such as The World Junior Championships, The Pan-American Games and Central American Games. Overall, his amateur record is reported as 112-8, with 84 KO's. When asked which of his amateur bouts most prepared him for his turn as a professional boxer, Mares points to his Olympic loss to Zsolt Bedak rather than his win over current featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez.

"We both had a pro-style fight. We fought like pros, and it really helped prepare me for the pros," Mares commented. Hiss loss to Bedak was his last as an amateur before turning to the professional ranks. As a professional, Mares is undefeated in 19 bouts. He has put his stylistic versatility to use in racking up 12 knockouts in those 19 wins. Mares has shown a natural proclivity for body punching, but has shown flashes of differing styles and versatility that make him a difficult opponent to prepare against, not to mention fun to watch.

With power in both hands and the ability to mix his attack, Mares has been given multiple labels as a fighter. He thinks his best asset is his body punching. "I personally think there are so many (styles) I still haven't shown. I fight one fight and people call me 'The Body Snatcher', because in that fight, I threw a lot of body shots. In the next fight, I box and people say I'm more of a slick fighter. They used to call me 'The Techno Fighter' when I was with Nacho (Beristain). Me, personally, I think I'm more of a body puncher. I'll be breaking them down little-by-little."

Mares takes the next step towards his first world title shot on March 25 when he goes against Felipe Almanza (17-15-4, 8 KO) on Golden Boy Promotions' "Fight Night Club" card. From December 2006 to November 2008, Almanza lost 6 straight fights, including an eight-round unanimous decision loss to Eric Morel and a disqualification loss to Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. Three of the remaining four losses were to unbeaten prospects, one of which was Anthony Rodriguez. Almanza would like nothing more than to derail Mares' train of success.

With a world title shot already in the bag, he could have rested on his laurels and waited for May 22 to roll around, but instead, he opted to take a stay-busy fight against a guy with 4 disqualification losses on his record. Almanza presents a dangerous element for Mares, in addition to the danger most live bodies in boxing bring with them. "I don't like that he has a lot of DQ's. He's been disqualified four times. That's a negative and hopefully he doesn't come in dirty and try to get me cut. The thing is, I'm sure my manager and people around me got me a fight that's similar to Yonnhy's style, so I think that's going to help me out."

Mares knows he has to take care of business before he moves on to Yonnhy Perez and isn't the type of person to look beyond the task at hand. "I've been in camp for this fight for two months already. I'm not looking past this guy. I'm ready. I'm ready to take care of business. I'm really serious and I'm going to put on a good show for everybody."

March 25 promises to be a great night of fights. Super Bantamweight/Featherweight prospect Derrick Wilson will be in action, as will fellow unbeaten Espinoza Boxing Club stablemate Ronny Rios. Mares is planning to hold up his end of the deal and put on a great show for the fans. "Just for the reason he has a lot of DQ's, I want to take him out quickly. My mindset is to go in there and kill him. Then again, I need the rounds for the (Perez) fight. I'm definitely going to take the first round and try to figure him out and if I can take him out quick, I'm going to take him out quick. I don't want to take the whole event. Those that think I'm looking ahead, I just want to shut them up and take care of business and look good doing it."