Antonio Moran Continues Streak of Knockout Victories

By Francisco Salazar

Lightweight contender Antonio Moran does not want to have fights go to judges’ scorecards. Instead, he is literally taking matters into his own hands, scoring decisive knockouts.

The hard-hitting Moran stopped Salvador Briseno in the second round Friday night at the Auditorio Blackberry in Mexico City.

The victory was Moran’s third in a row, all of which have occurred by knockout since a split decision draw to former world interim titleholder Emanuel Lopez on Dec. 17.

Moran (23-2, 16 knockouts) scored with straight right hands to the head of Briseno during the opening round. It was more of the same in the second round, until Moran landed a counter left uppercut to Briseno’s head, dropping him to the canvas.

Briseno beat the count and attempted to fend off Moran’s barrage, but a counter left hook staggered him against the ropes. Referee Laurentino Ramirez stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:43.

We were a little nervous because we didn't know a lot about him,” said Moran, who resides in the Mexico City area. “Once we got through the opening round, I became more comfortable. We didn’t want to leave this fight to the judges because things happen that shouldn’t. Our objective tonight was to win convincingly and we did it by knockout.”

In a rematch of their March of 2016 clash, lightweight Jerson Aguilar (8-3, 2 KOs) stopped Gabriel Perea (9-3, 6 KOs) at 15 seconds of the eighth round. Aguilar, who won by knockout in the second of their first bout, battered Perea until the fight was stopped.

Junior lightweight Geovanni De Jesus (4-3, 2 KOs) dropped Hector Cruz (3-1, 3 KOs) in round five, prompting referee Rafael Saldana to stop the fight.

In a brutal back-and-forth war, bantamweight Daniel Garcia (2-1, 1 KO) defeated Juan Carlos Gonzalez by unanimous decision over four rounds. Scores were 39-37, 39-37, and 39-38. Gonzalez was making his pro debut and is the nephew of former world titleholder Carlos ‘Bolillo’ Gonzalez.

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 (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing