Darleys Perez Decisions Argenis Lopez For Interim Title
Jun 29, 2014 • 12:16 PM ET
By Jake Donovan
On a night when his lone conqueror was knocked out for the first time as an amateur or pro, Darleys Perez kept his name in the lightweight mix. The once-beaten Colombian traveled to Dominican Republic to upend local unbeaten prospect Argenis Lopez over 12 rounds Saturday evening in the main event of the WBA's 'Festival KO a las Drogas' event in Santo Domingo.
Scores were 116.5-112 and 117.5-111 (twice) in favor of Perez, who claims an interim lightweight title in his second try.
The show was streamed live through a third-party service obtained by the WBA.
UNDERCARD
Dahiana Santana scored a 10-round decision over Francia Elena Bravo in their featherweight contest. Scores were 99.5-92 and 100-90 (twice) in favor of Santana, who picks up her seventh consecutive victory as she improves to 34-6 (14KOs). Bravo snaps a seven-fight win streak as she falls to 16-4-2 (9KOs).
At one point, Norberto Jimenez was a 2-8-1 punching bag destined to go nowhere. The charismatic Dominican has enjoyed a remarkable career turnaround, as evidenced in his clear-cut 11-round decision over Panama's Julio Escudero.
Jimenez couldn't miss all night with his left hook, gunning for the knockout throughout the contest but wise enough to box and pile up points. Escudero (15-4-1, 11KO) struggled to keep up with the crowd favorite, settling for a moral victory in staying on his feet and lasting the 11-round distance.
With the win, Jimenez advances to 19-8-3 (10KOs). His last loss came in May '11, as he is now unbeaten in his last 19 contests.
Unbeaten super middleweight prospect Fedor Chudinov picked up his third consecutive knockout after tearing through local favorite Andy Perez in three knockdowns. Chudinov (11-0, 9KOs) floored the previously unbeaten Perez (19-1, 13KOs) once in every round before the contest was mercifully halted at 1:04 of round three.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.
