LAS VEGAS – Kevin Gonzalez extended his lengthy winning streak and remained in 122-pound title contention Saturday.
The Mexican southpaw applied pressure throughout his 10-round fight against Colombian veteran Jose Sanmartin, consistently landed the harder punches and won their junior featherweight bout by unanimous decision on the David Benavidez-Caleb Plant undercard at MGM Grand Garden Arena. All three judges – Max De Luca (98-92), Lisa Giampa (99-91) and David Sutherland (97-93) – gave Gonzalez credit for a convincing victory.
Gonzalez (26-0-1, 13 KOs) has won 13 fights in a row since his six-round majority draw with Adalberto Garcia (then 6-6-4) in September 2018. The 25-year-old Gonzalez is the WBA’s third-ranked contender for its super bantamweight champion, Murodjon Akhmadaliev (11-0, 8 KOs).
Sanmartin slipped to 34-7-1 (21 KOs) and lost for the second time in his past three fights.
Sanmartin seemed content to go the distance and didn’t press for the knockout he so clearly needed in the ninth and 10th rounds. Gonzalez out-worked him again in those final six minutes of action and cruised to a lopsided win.
Gonzalez landed back-to-back right hands as Sanmartin came forward with just over 30 seconds on the clock in the eighth round.
A straight left by Gonzalez made Sanmartin retreat with about 15 seconds to go in the seventh round. Gonzalez landed a right hook just after the halfway point of the seventh round.
An aggressive Gonzalez kept the pressure on Sanmartin throughout the sixth round, when Sanmartin mostly remained in a defensive shell.
Gonzalez backed Sanmartin into the ropes with just under a minute to go in the fifth round and landed to his head and body.
A left hand by Gonzalez knocked Sanmartin backward a few seconds before the fourth round ended. Gonzalez punctuated a combination with a straight left hand that knocked Sanmartin backward less than 20 seconds into the fourth round.
Gonzalez unloaded a combination to Sanmartin’s head and body with just under 15 seconds on the clock in the second round.
Gonzalez landed a straight left with about 30 seconds to go in the opening round. The southpaw spent much of the opening round flicking his jab at Sanmartin and staying out of his opponent’s punching range.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.