Abner Mares of Hawaiian Gardens has become one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The Artesia High graduate has won titles in the bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight divisions and Saturday will defend his featherweight belt against former featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez of Mexico at StubHub Center (on Showtime).

At Thursday’s final news conference, Oscar De La Hoya spoke highly of this main event.

“For the boxing fans in L.A., this is what boxing is all about and this is what they deserve,” said De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions. “Abner Mares is a special talent that we are witnessing in our era. He’s a talent that doesn’t come around very often. He’s fought nothing but the best. We all know Gonzalez. He’s a machine who is a tough puncher and a very calculated puncher. Jhonny knows this is his opportunity. Everybody knows that.”

Mares, who recently bought a house in Downey, is 26-0-1 with 14 knockouts. Gonzalez is 54-8 with 46 knockouts. Gonzalez lost his belt to Daniel Ponce De Leon in September 2012. Mares in turn took it from De Leon in May in Las Vegas.