Mario Gutierrez pulled off an upset win Friday night, stopping former world junior flyweight title challenger Hector Flores at La Velaria de la Feria in Leon, Mexico.
Gutierrez, who resides in El Salto, Mexico, improved to 9-4-1, 6 knockouts.
The 33-year-old was the superior fighter from the opening bell. Gutierrez was at his best fighting from distance, utilizing his long arms to connect with precision to the head and body of Flores. Anytime Flores pressed the action, Gutierrez connected with uppercuts and hooks to the head.
Gutierrez was able to box well on his back foot. He was able to utilize lateral movement to make Flores miss, and connect with more counter punches to the head.
Midway through round 4, Gutierrez dropped Flores to the canvas, courtesy of an uppercut to the head. From that point on, the fight became more one-sided in favor of Gutierrez.
Flores would find some success on the inside during the second half of the fight, landing a hook or right hand to the body, but he continued to pay the price by getting countered by Gutierrez. Flores was not successful in cutting off the ring, allowing Gutierrez to continue to fight and land from distance. As the bout entered the final stages, Flores looked worse for wear and looked exhausted from the amount of punches he received and pressing the action.
After returning to the corner following round 9, Flores remained on his stool. The official result was a 10th round knockout win for Gutierrez, who has now won his last four of his last six fights, including a majority-decision win over Daniel Valledares, who currently holds the IBF world title at 105 pounds, and previously-unbeaten Axel Talavera Carrillo.
Flores, who resides in Tijuana, Mexico, drops to 20-2-4, 10 KOs. The 30-year-old previously fought Sivenathi Nontshinga of South Africa for the vacant IBF 108-pound world title on September 3, losing by split-decision.
In the co-feature, three-time Olympic bronze medalist Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba defeated Willmank Canonico by unanimous decision.
Scores were 96-94, 96-94, and 97-93 for the southpaw Alvarez, who improved to 5-0, 2 KOs. The 32-year-old Alvarez, a lightweight prospect, was coming off a knockout win over Sergio Puente on January 27.
Canonico, who is originally from Caracas, Venezuela and now resides in Rosarito, Mexico, drops to 12-3-1, 10 KOs and has now lost his last two fights.
Junior lightweight prospect and Mexico City resident Alberto Mora defeated Jonathan Ramirez (11-4, 8 KOs) of Guanajuato, Mexico by unanimous decision.
All three judges scored the bout 79-73 for Mora, who improves to 5-0, 3 KOs.
The card was promoted by BXSTRS and streamed live throughout Latin America on ESPN Knockout.
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