Former two division world champion Abner Mares injured a rib during sparring and his February 15th rematch with the man who took his Featherweight title Jhonny Gonzalez will have to be postponed according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“I got a call from directly Abner [on Monday afternoon] and he said that he suffered a rib injury last week in sparring and that he tried to see if he could shake it off but he had to go and see the doctor and that the doctor told him he should not have any contact for several weeks,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. “So that necessitates that we move the date of the fight and it will not happen on Feb. 15.”
Schaefer said that Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez informed Gonzalez’s team of the situation. Schaefer said he also informed Showtime Sports chief Stephen Espinoza.
“I will be working next week with Stephen to see what we want to do,” Schaefer said. “I need to talk to venues and coordinate with Showtime to find a different date. Abner wants this fight and so does Jhonny, so it’s just a matter of finding a different date that works.”
Frank Espinoza, Mares’ manager — and no relations to Showtime’s Espinoza — said Mares was in training camp in Mexico City when he suffered the injury.
“He said that his ribs were very sore and when I reached out to talk to Richard [on Monday], he said there is nothing that we can do as far as rescheduling the fight until next week, after the holiday, when the Showtime people are back in the office,” Espinoza said. “Of course, Abner is disappointed. He was ready to go in and win the world title again.
“This is boxing and accidents happen in sparring. Unfortunately, he got hurt. So now we will wait and talk to Golden Boy about a new date.”
