By Francisco Salazar

Another fight in Ontario, another win for Jose Roman.

The fringe lightweight contender knocked out veteran Carlos Cardenas in the first round of a scheduled eight round bout Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif.

Roman goes to 23-1-1, 16 KOs. Cardenas, who has now lost seven of his last eight bouts, falls to 21-12-1, 14 KOs.

It was all Roman from the opening bell, aggressively taking the fight to Cardenas. A barrage of punches forced Cardenas to take a knee, where he remained as he was counted out at 1:26.

Roman, who resides in nearby Garden Grove, has won his last nine bouts. All nine bouts have occurred in Ontario.

Amateur standout Ruben Villa knocked out Gerardo Molina in the opening round of his pro debut.

The southpaw Villa, who has two amateur wins over Shakur Stevenson, dropped Molina with a counter left within the opening minute. Later in the opening round, a barrage of punches dropped Molina (1-2, 1 KO), prompting referee Raul Caiz, Jr. to stop the bout at 2:25.

"It felt great to get that first win," said Villa, who is co-promoted by Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing. "I didn't go in thinking knockout, but I knew after the first knockdown that I was going to end it early."

"I had a bunch of friends and family in attendance. I'm glad I gave them something to smile about."

John Delperdang, who resides in Ontario, stopped Andres Figueroa in the fourth round of a six round bout.

Delperdang (7-1, 7 KOs) dropped Figueroa near the end of the first round. Delperdang had his way throughout most of the bout, eventually dropping Figueroa (7-2, 5 KOs) again, this time by an accumulation of blows in the fourth round. The fight was called at 2:12.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco 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