Stephanie Trapp/Showtime

Former three-division world champion Abner Mares has made a name for himself in the ring and on the microphone for Showtime Sports.

Mares (31-3-1, 15 KOs) last fought in June 2018 when he fell to Leo Santa Cruz via unanimous decision. That was Mares’ rematch with Santa Cruz and he was scheduled for several fights after that one but never entered the squared circle on a fight night. He suffered a detached retina in January 2019, which prevented him from fighting Gervonta Davis in February 2019.

Do not let his four-year hiatus fool you. Mares has been busy with other work outside of fighting.

During his career, he started a new role as a color commentator during boxing matches. He participated in NBC’s 2016 Summer Olympics coverage for their boxing matches. From his time covering boxing in the Olympics, Mares started to build his career as a broadcaster.

In 2020, Mares was hired by Showtime Sports as a color commentator for their boxing coverage. He was paired with Mauro Ranallo and Al Bernstein. His first card as a commentator with Showtime was the Angelo Leo-Tramaine Williams bout on Aug. 1, 2020. Since then, he has been on Showtime’s No. 1 broadcasting team as their analyst with boxing experience.

After less than two years with Showtime, Mares made an impact on the broadcasts. He provided a sense of professionalism and experience that only a fighter with his experience level could deliver to Showtime’s broadcasts. Mares appeared on nine pay-per-view broadcasts and several championship broadcasts.

He can break down the technical parts of the sport that an untrained eye will not be able to pick up on. His chemistry with Ranallo and Bernstein was important at the start of their working relationship and they have improved incrementally over the last two years as a broadcast crew.

On top of his commentary work, Mares owns a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles called Tacos Don Chente. He is a versatile person with three different careers as a boxer, commentator, and business owner. He could return to the ring, but Mares is successful outside of the ring. On Saturday, May 14, he will be on commentary for Showtime’s coverage of Charlo vs. Castano II.