By Francisco Salazar

Who would have thought a fighter with a more polished style would lose to someone with a more flawed style?

That would be the case when Charles Martin and his unorthodox and flawed style was able to break Flores down, eventually stopping him in the fourth round at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, CA.

The bout headlined a five-bout "Boxing at Barker" card, presented by King Sports Worldwide. It was the first card promoted by entertainment entrepreneur Michael King.

The fight between Flores and Martin was a match-up of unbeaten heavyweights from Southern California. A win would open the doors and lay claim to being considered a legit prospect in the division.

Both had their moments in the first two rounds. Martin was much busier, backing Flores up, while Flores attempted to land lead rights to the head. 

Despite being the more-polished boxer, Flores failed to take advantage of his strengths. He lacked a consistent jab, did not attack the body, and did not cut off the ring.

From the third round, Martin began to break Flores down.  He walked Flores down, not allowing to set his feet and backing him up against the ropes. A right to the body before the end of the third round dropped Flores to the canvas. Flores survived the round.

Flores fell back into the bad habit of fighting against the ropes at the beginning of the fourth round. It was a price he would pay as Martin landed a left to the head, followed by a right to the head that dropped him to the canvas. Referee David Mendoza began to administer a count, but waved the fight over at 1:14.

Martin goes to 16-0-1, 14 KOs, while Flores drops to 14-1, 12KOs. Both fighters reside in the Los Angeles-area.

N'Jikam easily defeats Zuniga

Former middleweight world title holder Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam won a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision over Fulgencio Zuniga.

N'Jikam utilized his reach and height to rain punches down onto Zuniga, who tried to get on the inside of the Frenchmen's guard.

It looked as though N'Jikam hurt his left hand or arm in the fifth round. He kept favoring the arm and almost exclusively only threw the right hand at Zuniga. Even with one arm, N'Jikam did enough to easily win rounds over Zuniga.

All three judges scored the bout 100-90 in favor or N'Jikam, who improves to 30-1, 18 KOs. Zuniga drops to 26-9, 23 KOs.

Van Heerden gets split nod over Narh

Welterweight Chris Van Heerden won a close 10 round split decision over Ray Narh.

Van Heerden was fighting for the second time in the United States after having fought mostly in his native South Africa. Narh entered the bout having lost three of his previous four bouts. 

The southpaw Van Heerden controlled the tempo in the first two rounds, beating Narh to the punch during most of the exchanges. Van Heerden found a home for uppercuts to the head and body of Narh.

Narh was able to get on the inside of Van Heerden's guard in the middle rounds. Narh continued to press the action, while Van Heerden's punch output dropped significantly. Van Heerden also got away from going to the body. Sensing the fight was close, Van Heerden swung momentum in his favor in the final two rounds, beating Narh to the punch.

One judge scored the bout 97-93 in favor of Narh, while the other two judges scored the bout 96-94 in favor of Van Heerden, who improves to 21-1-1, 11 KOs.

Narh, from Brooklyn, NY, drops to 26-5, 21 KOs.

Dorticos scores brutal KO of Fields

Hard-hitting cruiserweight Yuniel Dorticos knocked out Eric Fields in the forth round of a 10 round bout.

Both fighters tasted the canvas in the opening round. Within the first 20 seconds of the opening bell, Fields dropped Dorticos with a left hook to the head. Dorticos was not visibly hurt, looking to set a combination after getting up. He would do just that, landing a left-right to the head of Fields, dropping him to the canvas near the end of the round. Fields was able to survive the round.

Dorticos controlled the action during the next two rounds. He worked from the center of the ring, while Fields tried to get inside of Dorticos' guard. He would land an occasional punch, but Dorticos would land two-three punches for every one Fields landed.

Near the end of the fourth rounds, Dorticos stunned Fields with a right. Sensing he was hurt, Dorticos followed up, landing one more hard right hand that dropped Fields flat onto the canvas. Referee Jack Reiss counted Fields out at 2:58.

The Cuban-born Dorticos, who now resides in Miami, FL, goes to 17-0, 17 KOs. Fields, from Ardmore, OK, falls to 24-3, 16 KOs.

Rose stops Ledezma

In the opening bout of the King Sports Worldwide card, middleweight Louis Rose stopped Emmanuel Ledezma in the eighth and final round.

Both had their moments during the first half of the fight. Ledezma threw his hands more, where he was more effective landing lead rights hands to the head.  Rose was able to slip some of those punches from Ledezma, throwing and landing counter rights hands to the head.

Rose began to walk Ledezma down midway through the fight. As he pressed the action, Rose was able to land more frequently to the body. While there was some doubt in the fight as to who was ahead, Rose came on in the final two rounds. He connected with hard right hands to the head of Ledezma.

With a minute left in the eighth round, Rose staggered Ledezma with a right to the head. Ledezma hung on, trying to hold on or trying to counter Rose. Unfortunately, he was knocked backwards against the ropes with a left hook to the head. Because the ropes held him up, referee David Mendoza correctly ruled it a knockdown. After administering eight-count, Mendoza saw enough and waved the fight over at 2:58.

Rose, from Claremont, Calif., improves to 10-1-2, 3 KOs. Ledezma, from San Antonio, Tex., drops to 12-2-2, 2 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing