Sergio ‘Yoreme’ Mendoza is making a name for himself at 112 pounds.
Mendoza remained unbeaten Friday night, dropping Jose Javier Torres twice before the fight was stopped in round 6 at the Polideportivo Juan S. Millan in Torres’ hometown of Culiacan, Mexico.
With the victory, Mendoza improved to 19-0, 17 knockouts.
From the opening bell, Mendoza was able to fight from distance. He was sharp and accurate in connecting with two and three-punch combinations to Torres’ head.
During the third round, Mendoza unleashed a counter left hook to the head, hurting Torres. Because the ring ropes held up Torres, a standing eight-count was correctly administered. To his credit, Torres fought on, attempting to get on the inside of Mendoza’s long reach.
Sensing Torres was weakening and tiring, Mendoza increased his punch output and aggression in round 5. Mendoza sat down on his punches, and the effect of his punches put Torres on the defensive, even if he was fighting back.
Mendoza’s punches finally took their toll as a barrage finally dropped Torres to the canvas. Torres beat the count and fought on, but a Mendoza combination to the head prompted an immediate stoppage.
The 23-year-old had last fought on December 10, defeating Joaquin Cruz by unanimous decision.
Torres falls to 15-3, 9 KOs. The 27-year-old had fought the better opposition between the two, including his previous fight in August 2021, losing by unanimous decision to Daniel Valledares, who would eventually win a world title belt at 105 pounds.
In the co-feature, featherweight prospect Hector Escobar of Los Angeles dropped Axel Ahumada three times en route to a knockout win in round two.
Escobar, now 18-0 1 NC, 15 KOs, landed the more-effective and harder punches in the opening round. Escobar dropped Ahumada with a combination to the head, and twice more by left hooks to the head, prompting an immediate stoppage.
The 24-year-old, who is managed by Frank Acosta, has won his last five bouts by knockout.
Ahumada, who resides in Los Mochis, Mexico, falls to 7-5-1, 6 KOs.
In flyweight action, Yoali Mosqueda of Mexico improved to 7-0, 5 KOs by stopping Guadalajara’s Adrian Ibarra (5-2, 3 KOs) in the third round.
Junior bantamweight Alexis Silva of Tepic, Mexico defeated Juan Carlos Franco (5-2-1, 2 KOs) of Nogales, Mexico by unanimous decision. Silva improved to 6-1, 2 KOs.
Lightweight Manuel Medina Barrera of Zapopan, Mexico improved to 5-1-1, 3 KOs, stopping Mazatlan’s Ariel Salazar (5-1, 2 KOs) at 2:25 of the fourth round.
The card was co-promoted by BXSTRS and JD Promotions and was streamed live throughout Mexico on ESPN Knockout and on Canela TV in the United States.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing