Vakhtang Darchinyan defeated by Abner Mares

Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko won their fights on Saturday night during the Bantamweight Tournament sponsored by Showtime. They move on to the final leaving their opponents Vic Darchinyan and Yonnhy Perez to fight for what's left in the consolation bout, Examiner.com reported.

Mares 21-0-1 13 KOs, showed his mettle by taking a split decision over veteran and gritty Vic Darchinyan 35-3-1 27 KOs. Their battle was the first out of the box on the card of semi-final matches for the Showtime tournament.

In a smallish room in the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, that had been the second choice for promoters after it didn't work out for them in Mexico, the crowd appreciated Mares-Darchinyan for their non-stop action.

The fight was close as the scores indicated: 115-11 for Darchinyan, 115-112 and 115-111 in favor of Abner Mares. Vic was bitter after the loss, complaining to the referee Robert Howard and about Howard in the post-fight interview in the ring.