Ramiro Cesena cannot catch a break.
Less than four months after landing on the wrong end of a controversial stoppage, the baby-faced Mexican featherweight was dealt his second straight defeat. The latest came at the hands of Puerto Rico’s Orlando ‘Capu’ Gonzalez, who claimed a ten-round, unanimous decision win over Cesena. Scores were 96-94. 96-94 and 97-93 for Gonzalez in their terrific ProBox TV-aired main event Wednesday evening from Boricua-friendly Kissimmee (Florida) Civic Center.
Cesena attempted to walk down Gonzalez in the early rounds of their featherweight contest. The visiting 23-year-old slugger from Baja California, Mexico came forward and sought a home for his heavy right hand and left hook. Gonzalez was slow out the gate and quickly forced on the defensive as Cesena was able to drive the 27-year-old southpaw to the ropes.
Gonzalez turned the tide in round three. Cesena was clipped by a right hook and later from a straight left hand which snapped back his head. Momentum shifted towards the end of the frame but not enough for Cesena to win it on the cards.
Cesena was in control for much of round four until a low blow forced him to a knee. Time was called to give Cesena a chance to recover, only for Gonzalez to finish the round strong.
The middle rounds featured terrific two-way action. Gonzalez offered a world class chin as Cesena crashed home left hooks. Gonzalez would almost always have an answer, and effectively used his left hand to freeze Cesena and then pivot out of harm’s way.
A right hook by Gonzalez crashed home on Cesena’s chin in round six. Cesena stormed back with a flurry of power shots and maintained that high volume pressure in round seven.
Gonzalez’s chin was put to the test in a brutal ninth round. Cesena landed power shots at will as blood dripped from the mouth of Gonzalez, who somehow mustered the strength to flurry in the closing seconds.
Both fighters let their hands go in a furiously paced tenth and final round. Cesena never stopped swinging for a knockout finish, though unaware that he actually needed one. Gonzalez showed amazing recuperative powers as he stood toe to toe with his younger foe and connected often enough to seal his third consecutive victory.
Gonzalez advanced to 21-2 (12KOs) with the win. His lone two defeats came to two-time Olympic Gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez, who has since claimed the WBO featherweight title, and rising prospect Misael Lopez.
Cesena fell to 16-2-1 (13KOs). The loss comes less than 16 weeks after a highly questionable tenth-round stoppage defeat to Thomas ‘Gunna Man’ Mattice this past April 8 in San Antonio, Texas. Cesena was ahead on all three scorecards (89-81, 86-84, 86-84) when he was pinned to the ropes and didn’t immediately return fire when referee Rafael Ramos stopped the fight with just 85 seconds left on the clock.
Also on the ProBox telecast:
– Mohammd Mimoune (23-5, 4KOs) ended a two-fight skid with a stunningly one-sided, sixth round knockout of unbeaten Steven Galeano (12-1, 9KOs) in their junior welterweight contest;
– 2020 Haitian Olympian Darrelle Valsaint (9-0. 7KOs) remained perfect after he wiped out Daniel Aduku in the fourth-round of their middleweight affair. The fight marked Valsaint’s sixth ProBox appearance, dating back to the series’ inception last March.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox