By Francisco Salazar
Lancaster, California - In his first fight since getting knocked out by Timothy Bradley in November of 2015, former world champion Brandon Rios (34-3, 25 KOs) knocked out Aaron Herrera (32-7-1, 21 KOs) in the seventh round.
There was high contact in the first round, with both boxer landing big shots. Rios landed far more shots, especially the uppercut. It was classic Rios in the fight, where he would take a few punches to land a few of his own.
Herrera went to war with Rios, but he began to break down in the second half of the fight. During the seventh, Rios landed a hard hook to the body that put Herrera down for the full count.
Junior welterweight Mario Barrios (19-0, with 11 KOs) remained unbeaten, knocking out Jose Luis Rodriguez (21-10, with 12 KOs) in round seven. Barrios was the taller fighter, but would get hit often by Rodriguez on the inside, particularly in the fourth and fifth rounds. Barrios ended matters at 37 seconds of the seventh round when he landed a left hook to body. Rodriguez went down from the punch, prompting referee Zac Young to stop the fight.
Hard-hitting junior welterweight Jose Miguel Borrego stopped Kevin Watts in round four. Watts (11-2, with 4 KOs) was outboxing Borrego during the first three rounds of the fight. Borrego (13-0, 12 KOs) began closing the distance in round four, forcing Watts to stand and trade more. The tactic paid off as Borrego dropped Watts midway through round four. Watts stood up and fought back bravely, but was pinned in a corner where Borrego let his hands go. Referee Jack Reid's stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:42.
Former world title challenger Roberto Marroquin (26-4-1, with 19 KOs) knocked out Jonathan Perez in the fourth round. Both fighters had their moments until Marroquin dropped Perez with a left hook to the head. Perez (37-19, with 29 KOs) stood up on wobbly legs prompting referee Zac Young to stop the bout at 2:23 of the fourth round.
Welterweight Eridanni Leon outboxed Isaac Freeman (3-5-1, with 3 KOs), winning a six round unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 59-55 in favor of Leon (5-2, with 1 KO.)
In the opening bout, junior welterweight Juan Funez (10-0-1, with 4 KOs) remained unbeaten with a first round knockout over Edgar Garcia (5-13-1, with 1 KO). Time of the knockout was 1:53.
Welterweight Daniel Fabela (2-3) won a four round unanimous decision over Phillip Percy. Fabela dropped Percy (0-4) twice in round three en route to winning by scores of 40-34, 40-34 and 39-35.
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 Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing