Moreno, Mares retain championship titles

ANAHEIM – Anselmo Moreno retained his WBA bantamweight title with a unanimous decision over Australian challenger Vic Darchinyan at the Honda Center Arena on Saturday.

Moreno dominated former world champion Darchinyan over 12 rounds, winning easily on all three judges’ scorecards, 116-111, 117-110 and 120-107.

It was the 26th consecutive victory and ninth title defence for Moreno.

“He’s a great boxer, but he faced a ghost tonight,” said Moreno, who was fighting for the first time on US soil. “He couldn’t catch me…. He threw a lot of punches, and I avoided them. That was the plan. Yes, he did connect a few times, but so did I.”

Darchinyan became so frustrated at one point in the fourth round that he threw Moreno (32-1-1, 11 KOs) to the canvas, causing the referee to deduct a point.

Darchinyan was the more aggressive of the two for much of the fight but could not get through the slick defence of the Panamanian.

In the main event doubleheader, Abner Mares kept his unbeaten record intact by beating Joseph Agbeko by unanimous decision to retain his IBF bantamweight belt.

“I’m happy that my fans finally saw my true boxing skills,” said crowd favorite Mares. “I beat him the first time, and I beat him again. I knew I was winning the whole fight.”

Mares won 118-110 on all three judges’ scorecards in a rematch of his majority-decision victory over Agbeko three months ago.

Mares landed several low blows on Agbeko in their controversial first fight but was not penalized by the referee. Agbeko protested and after a review, the IBF ordered an immediate rematch.

Mares (23-0-1, 13 KOs) fought the final 10 rounds with a bad cut near his right eye.

Moreno could be Mares’s next opponent, Golden Boy boxing chief executive Richard Schaefer said.

The Ghana-born Agbeko did not like the decision.

“A lot of media guys told me at the press conference that this is California, and that I will have to knock him out to win,” Agbeko said.

“I told them no. If I win, I deserve to win. Right now, I don’t have anything to protest. I don’t feel like a loser. I think this decision is unfair. You shouldn’t have to knock out your opponent to win in California. I thought I fought better tonight than the last fight.”

Originally posted at 12:14 pm | Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011