By Jake Donovan
Former two-time 115 lb. titlist Cristian Mijares scored a near shutout over Eusebio Ojedo in their 10-round non-title bout Saturday evening in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Mijares moved up to the 122 lb. division late last year following a second stint as a 115 lb. champ. The 30-year old insists he is still growing into the division and that he feels stronger. There wasn’t much evidence of that against Ojedo, though the southpaw was able to box his way to a clear victory.
The win makes it 10 in a row for Mijares, whose record moves to 46-6-2 (21KO). Ojedo falls to 21-11-2 (10KO), losing for the second time in his past three fights.
Mijares was left for dead at one point, having dropped three in a row after rising from obscurity to serve as the best 115 lb. fighter on the planet circa 2007-’08. A nine-round drubbing at the hands of Vic Darchinyan in Nov. ’08 sent his career into a tailspin, just over 18 months after serving industry-wide notice with a 12-round beatdown of Jorge Arce.
The debacle against Darchinyan was followed with a pair of upset losses to Nehomar Cermeno in an ill-advised move to bantamweight. Mijares slowly began to claw his way back into contention, dropping back down to super flyweight where he was able to recapture a title in late 2010.
His second reign was short-lived, making just one defense before abandoning the belt in favor of a move to the red-hot122 lb. division.
Also on the card, free swinging bantamweight prospect Felipe Orucuta scored a 2nd round stoppage win over Richard Garcia. Orucuta landed with conviction to the body, working his way upstairs to never allow Garcia (23-14-1, 6KO) to get going.
Orucuta ended matters with two knockdowns in the second, both courtesy of left hooks to the body. The bout was stopped immediately following the second knockdown, with no count required.
Orucuta advances to 24-1 (20KO) in scoring his sixth straight win, all coming inside the distance.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox