Abner Mares stops Jose Ramirez in five, looks toward Jhonny Gonzalez rematch

Abner Mares dominated a fun but one-sided fight against Jose Ramirez tonight on Showtime, scoring his second straight win in 2014 as he looks to regain a featherweight title in 2015.

Mares (28-1-1, 15 KO) dropped Ramirez (25-5, 15 KO) in the first round with a pair of hooks to the body, and put his opponent down again in round three, nearly once more in round four, and again in round five. On that knockdown, a game but overmatched Ramirez took his time, spit out his mouthpiece, and appeared to be perhaps waiting for referee Jack Reiss to go ahead and stop the fight.

Reiss did not, though, and Ramirez continued trying to score with big shots. After the fifth round, however, his corner pulled the plug, having seen enough. Ramirez missed weight on Friday and may not have had much gas in the tank, but he gave a big effort.

Mares fought very aggressively in his first fight back with trainer Clemente Medina, after a tentative effort with Virgil Hunter in his corner earlier this year. Mares may have even fought a bit too aggressively, but he was happy to slug away with a guy he was simply better than.