Showtime will replay the controversial Abner Mares victory over Joseph Agbeko on Tuesday night 10:30 pm EDT, on its Showtime Extreme channel. The bout was entertaining but a formal protest was filed to the IBF by Agbeko’s camp after several low blows were ignored during the fight.

With the win, the undefeated Mares took Agbeko’s IBF Bantamweight belt and became the winner of the Showtime Bantamweight Tournament.

Photo/Tom Casino Showtime

The victory came amid more than a dozen low body blows by Mares, at least one of which was a direct shot to the protective cup. Not only didn’t referee Russell Mora deduct a point after five warnings to Mares he credited Mares with a knockdown on the final direct-to-the-crotch shot.

Mares recorded a majority draw decision that was scored 113-113, 115-111, 115-111, leaving room for the possibility that had referee Russell Mora done his job, there could have been a different outcome.

A protest was filed with the IBF and the Agbeko camp called for an immediate rematch which has yet to be decided.

Full breakdown of the fight; “Mares takes Agbeko’s belt”.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

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