Abner Mares shows heart, and a lot of blood, in win

There’s been a lot of doubt about Abner Mares’ aim during his short boxing career. But no one has ever questioned his heart.

And it was that courage that made the difference Saturday, with Mares battling to a bloody but unanimous decision over Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko at Honda Center to retain his International Boxing Federation world bantamweight title.

The fight was ordered by the IBF after Mares, who fights out of Lakewood, won a controversial decision over Agbeko in August despite throwing several low blows. And though Agbeko complained of three shots below the belt Saturday, Mares won this fight fairly, with all three judges scoring it 118-110.

“I’m happy my fans saw my true boxing skills,” said Mares, who ran his record to 23-0-1. “A lot of bad stuff happened. But this was the real Abner.”

In the co-main event, World Boxing Assn. champion Anselmo Moreno of Panama kept his belt by methodically pounding his way to a unanimous decision over Armenian Vic Darchinyan, a former two-time titlist. That win that could soon earn him a date with Mares to unify the IBF and WBA crowns.

Mares, however, is likely to need considerable time off before that happens.

An Agbeko head butt opened a gash over Mares’ right eye in the second round, and his nose was bloodied in the ninth. Though cut man Miguel Diaz did a great job patching him up between rounds, Mares’ face was a bloody mess by the end of the penultimate 11th round, which Mares closed by landing a flurry of a half-dozen punches capped by a left uppercut at the bell.

That was a theme that was repeated throughout the fight, with Agbeko bothering the champion with an effective left jab only to have Mares end each exchange by landing the final punch, reestablishing control of the bout.

Agbeko fought much of the fight moving forward and seemed eager to trade punches with Mares. Yet after a dominant opening round, all three judges gave Agbeko just one of the final 11 rounds.

“I don’t have anything to say. Right now I don’t have anything to protest. I don’t feel like a loser,” said Agbeko (28-4, 22 KOs), a two-time world champion who lost his belt in last summer’s controversial decision. “[But] this decision was unfair.”

In the first fight Darchinyan (37-4-1, 27 KOs), a powerful brawler, came out swinging but rarely landed his wild punches. That allowed the confident but soft-punching Moreno (32-1-1, 11 KOs), boxing in the U.S. for the first time as a pro, to duck under Darchinyan’s shots and dictate the tempo the bout.

“I just couldn’t figure him out,” Darchinyan said.

Darchinyan twice put Moreno on the canvas, though not with his fists. He pushed him down in his own corner at the bell ending the fourth round — earning a point deduction — then inadvertently knocked him down again along the ropes in the final round.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com