Abner Mares dominates as expected on Fight Night Club

Bantamweight prospect/contender Abner Mares was as advertised tonight on Golden Boy's Fight Night Club, dominating journeyman Felipe Almanza and stopping him in five rounds.

Mares (20-0, 13 KO) now moves on to his May 22 shot at IBF bantamweight titlist Yonnhy Perez, which will be co-featured on the Vazquez-Marquez IV show on Showtime. Mares looked good tonight, which was basically live sparring for him, but probably necessary given that Mares hadn't fought since August of last year.

On the undercard, Ronny Rios improved to 10-0 (5 KO) by stopping Andres Ledesma in five, and Derrick Wilson's prospect status took another hit as he drew with Adam Ochoa. Wilson (5-1-2, 2 KO) really did deserve the win, but all in all I don't think this will have much impact on his career. He's got some skill, but he's shown a lot of flaws. He landed flush on Ochoa frequently, with good looking shots, but he couldn't even shake his opponent much. Ochoa (2-1-1, 1 KO) also showed some promise and might be someone to keep in the Rolodex. (Do people have Rolodexes anymore?)

We'll be back with live coverage tomorrow for the Sky Friday Fight Night card featuring Matthew Hatton-Gianluca Branco and another Anthony Small fight, then we might well have all day coverage on Saturday. Koki Kameda faces Ponsgaklek Wonjongkam at 6am Saturday, Yuriorkis Gamboa fights around 5pm, and then we'll be here for the Super Six fight at 10:30, and probably the Maidana-Cayo HBO main event, too.