Yonnhy Perez-Abner Mares: Could This Fight Upstage Marquez-Vazquez 4

It seems appropriate that a fight being talked about as “Fight of The Year” is billed as the main support to the fourth Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight. That fight features bantamweight champion Yonnhy Perez against Abner Mares.

Can the first three Vazquez-Marquez fights be outdone? No. Can they be equaled? Yes, but chances are slim.

If any fight is going to match the action of a Vazquez-Marquez fight, I put my money on this one tonight. There are many factors in the Perez-Mares fight that remind me of Vazquez-Marquez.

First of all they both have big power for a small weight. Perez is 20-0 with 14 knockouts. Mares is 20-0 with 23 knockouts.

Who has the bigger power is up for debate. Neither has knocked out a top tier opponent. I would say Mares has the better power because he is more technical.

As far as chins go it seems they both have good chins but again who has the better one is up for debate. Mares hasn’t faced a big time puncher in his career so far.

Perez has went the distance with Joseph Agbeko, and Silence Mabuza so he has the edge in chin. The most important part of this fight is the styles should mesh very well.

Perez is the Vazquez in this fight. He throws a lot of punches, has good power, is worse technically, and never stops coming forward.

Mares is the Marquez in this fight. He has good power, is better technically, faster, and at times makes fights harder for himself by wading in and brawling.

As far as styles go this fight really reminds me of Vazquez-Marquez. You have the brawler type fighter against the better technical fighter who wades in and brawls at times.

Perez is actually only one year younger than Vazquez, at 31, but has far less miles on his tires. Mares is much younger at 24 but they both have 20 fights.

As far as wear and tear goes it seems that they are both at about the same level. I don’t think that age really plays a big factor in this fight.

When you look at quality of opposition Perez is head and shoulders above Mares. Neither has faced a lot of top fighters but Perez has the two best scalps on his resume.

His wins over Agbeko and Mabuza are much better than the top wins for Mares. His best wins are over faded former titlist Isidro Garcia and recent Vazquez victim Angel Antonio Priolo, who had lost four in a row.

This fight has all the makings of a big time exciting fight. If you are tuning in for the main even, you better not miss the supporting bout.

I really want to say Mares will win but I am going to go with Perez by decision. He never stops punching and is always right there putting pressure on you.

These guys fought three times in the amateurs and became friends and even lived together at one point. You better believe tonight when they step in the ring they won’t be treating each other as friends.