By Jake Donovan

A losing streak doesn’t always signal a shot fighter, just a rough patch in his career.

That’s the lesson passed along to the boxing community by Cristian Mijares, whose 2010 campaign warrants strong consideration for Comeback of the Year.

The latest turn in his crazy career came Saturday evening, taking a 12-round decision over Juan Albert Rosas in front of a partisan crowd at Auditorio Municipal in Zaragoza, Mexico.

Scores were 115-113, 116-113 and 117-113 in a bout that didn’t feature any knockdowns.

It wasn’t exactly a performance for the time capsule, nor will the bout garner Fight of the Year chatter. But in the end, it was enough for Mijares to reclaim his status at – or at the very least, near – the top of the super flyweight heap, using his boxing skills to overcome the brawling tactics of his shorter and stockier foe.

The crowd never hesitated to voice its displeasure over the uneven action, booing when their styles clashed but also rallying behind Mijares anytime he landed anything of note.

Things began well for Mijares, once regarded as the better boxers in the sport but who hit rough times beginning with his knockout loss to Vic Darchinyan two years ago.

The early rounds of Saturday’s fight was a reminder of how well the southpaw puts together his combinations, throwing Rosas off of his game with a brilliant display of boxing and moving.

Rosas began to close the gap in the middle rounds, though Mijares caught wind of the potential shift in momentum and elected to get on his bicycle. The tactic hardly sat well with the crowd, as chants of “Mi-Jar-Es” quickly transformed into boos, their way of reminding their stick-and-move guy to offer more sticking and less moving.

However, the night was more about outlasting his opponent than it was about making the highlight reel. Win today, look good the next time – as long as Mijares isn’t losing, he’ll gladly try harder to entertain tomorrow as long as he’s able to win today.

As the fight went into the championship rounds, Mijares grew more confident in his boxing abilities – but also more cautious in his approach. His punches no longer had the snap on them as was the case earlier in the fight, instead punching for the sake of punching while Rosas tried to force his countryman into a brawl.

To his credit, Mijares resisted the urge, though he had no problem fighting on the inside in the 12th and final round. The phone booth distance gave Rosas every chance to make something dramatic happen, but could never land that home run punch. Mijares remained busy until the final bell, leaning on Rosas as he threw body shots in combinations.

Long removed from his days as a pound-for-pound entrant, Mijares takes comfort in the fact that he’s now back in the mix in a super flyweight division suddenly thirsting for leadership and name recognition with the recent departure of Darchinyan and Nonito Donaire.

The win is his fifth straight as he improves to 41-6-2 (18KO). In store for the winner and once again titlist will be a mandatory title defense against Raul Martinez, though it’s unclear if it happens in his next fight. Martinez endured several cuts and bruises in his 12-round win over Rodrigo Guerrero last month in their elimination bout last month.


Rosas’ four-fight win streak and short lived alphabet title reign – having just won the belt five months ago -  both come to a halt as he falls 32-6 (26KO).

Mijares’ initial rise to notoriety in the eyes of most began with his whitewash of Jorge Arce in April 2007, and his 2010 campaign kicked off with a win over younger brother Francisco, a win that put him in position to challenge for the very alphabet title he won with this performance.

In between came a disastrous three-fight stretch that had many believing Mijares was done. A knockout loss to Darchinyan was followed up with a pair of decision loses to Nehomar Cermeno last year.

Many believed it to be the end of his run as a player in the lower weight classes, before turning things around dramatically, having won five in a row in the span of just over a year.

ALSO TELEVISED

Luis Arceo and Mario Perez fought to an eight round majority draw in their televised co-feature. Scores were 78-74 Arceo, 77-77 and 76-76. The verdict didn’t sit well with the crowd, who believed Arceo (23-10-3, 15KO) to be the victor over the fresher but far less experienced Perez (now 6-1-1, 4KO).

Juan Estrada remained unbeaten (now 17-0, 14KO) with a six-round decision over Jose Guadalupe Martinez (13-5-1, 13KO) in their junior middleweight walkout bout.  Scores were 59-56, 59-55 and 60-54

The show was presented by Zanfer Promotions and Top Rank, and aired live on Fox Sports Espanol as part of the Top Rank Live boxing series.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.