Abner Mares outworks Jonathan Oquendo en route to decision win

In the co-main event Saturday night’s Canelo vs. Lara Showtime pay-per-view, Abner Mares looked to make a triumphant return to the ring after nearly a year layoff against Jonathan Oquendo in a featherweight bout.

More from Boxing

• Limited-Time FanDuel Boxing Promo: $200 Bonus for ANY Bet on Baumgardner vs Linardatou
• Rays vs. Diamondbacks prediction and odds for Thursday, June 29 (Take the OVER)
• DraftKings Boxing Promo GUARANTEES $200 on Lopez vs Taylor (Plus, Win an Extra $200+ in Five States!)
• Industry’s BIGGEST Boxing Promo Unlocks $2,500 Bonus Betting on Lopez vs Taylor at FanDuel
• Turn $5 Into $200 Betting on Claressa Shields With DraftKings Boxing Promo (-8000 Odds Usually Pays out 6 Cents!) 

Mares vs. Oquendo brought us our second Mexico vs. Puerto Rico match up, with Mares hailing from Guadalajara and Oquendo from Bayamon.

In his last outing, Mares (26-1-1; 14 KOs) lost his WBC World featherweight title to Jhonny González after being knocked down twice in the first round. The fight was ruled a knockout loss for Mares.

Mares was looking to bounce back from that disappointing loss against Oquendo (24-3; 16 KOs), who entered the ring riding a two-fight winning streak.

During the pre-fight show, Tomoki Kameda delivered a brutal body shot KO to retain his WBO bantamweight title, so the tone was set for a great night of fights.

Mares and Oquendo were hoping to keep the momentum going.

Oquendo had a nice start to the bout, but he wasn’t doing anything to completely take Mares out of the fight. Oquendo was beginning to land some big uppercuts as we approached the midway point of the fight and a cut opened up over the left eye of Mares.

It appeared that the cut may have come from a headbutt, but the referee said the cut was from a punch. The cut was in a dangerous place right on the corner of the eyelid.

Mares did not let the cut hurt him, as he stayed patient in the middle of the ring.

Mares was staying calm and picking his shots, as he showed off the smart boxing that seemed to leave Oquendo second guessing all of his movement. Mares was doing all of the movement and Oquendo just was a sitting duck in the middle of the ring.

When the final bell sounded, everyone in the building seemed to know that Mares comfortably won the fight.

Official result: Abner Mares def. Jonathan Oquendo via unanimous decision (96-94, 98-92, 98-92)

Be sure to stay tuned to FanSided.com throughout the night for the full results and blow-by-blow coverage of tonight’s Canelo vs. Lara event.