By Jake Donovan
Super featherweight prospect Eloy Perez remained unbeaten Friday night after turning away the challenge of veteran Derrick Campos with a fifth round knockout at the Sports Arena in Pico Rivera, California.
Perez, who fights out of Salinas, Califorina, remained disciplined throughout, boxing smartly and building towards the stoppage, while Campos expended a lot of energy early searching for openings that were never there.
The jab alone was enough to carry Perez through the day, although he enjoyed major success with his right hands, particularly when countering Campos’ wide, looping shots.
Such was on display in the opening round, where he remained in his envelope before opening up in the second. Campos continued to charge forward, but most of his blows were picked off and masterfully countered by Perez, who never came unraveled.
Perez began to take the lead in the third, though it wasn’t until the fourth round until significant damage was served. Campos spent most of the earlier rounds moving forward in search of success, but was forced to fight in reverse throughout the third and fourth rounds.
A left hook about a minute into the fifth round proved to be the beginning of the end. Perez wasted no time in moving in for the kill, throwing nothing but power shots the rest of the way through as Campos could do nothing other than cover up and hope to ride out the storm.
The tactic backfired in a big way as Perez only dialed it up some more, splitting Campos’ guard with a left hook and raking his body with vicious shots. A series of head shots followed until the referee stepped in and interevened.
The official time was 2:02 of the fifth round.
Perez improves to 18-0-2 (5KO) with the win, his third of 2010 as he begins to make the transition from prospect to contender after recently completed his fifth year as a pro.
Campos drops his third straight as he falls to 20-9 (11KO).
Having won a regional title in his last fight, Perez advanced in one alphabet ranking group and could see a title shot within his next couple of fights. Current 130 lb. beltholder Roman Martinez is set to defend against mandatory challenger Ricky Burns on September 4.
A win by the champion would leave the top spot open, paving the way for a possible elimination bout between Perez and former title challenger Terdsak Jaendang.
Undefeated southpaw Carlos Molina is still a far way off from title shots, but continues to thrive as a local attraction. Fighting just minutes from his hometown of Rosemead, Molina was both disciplined and impressive in his fifth round stoppage of the capable Glenn Gonzales in the televised co-feature.
Neither fighter gave an inch in a fight that could’ve taken place in a phone booth. Both fighters had their moments in the opening two rounds, but drama threatened to surface when Gonzales suffered a cut just outside of his right eyelid, caused by an accidental clash of heads in the third round.
The blood would eventually stop flowing but proved to be a factor for the remainder of the round, as the Filipino southpaw continued to paw at it in between incoming punches from Molina, who was dialing in with his left hook upstairs.
Two-way action broke out in the fourth round, much to delight of the sparse but vocal crowd on hand, who chanted “Mo-Li-Na” as their hometown favorite began to press the action. Gonzales remained in Molina’s face, going punch-for-punch, but getting the worst of the exchanges judging by body language.
No real tell-tale signs came about in the fifth that indicated a stoppage would soon follow. In fact, Gonzales didn’t hesitate to take the lead and didn’t seem particularly bothered at any point in the round. Both fighters had their moments in the frame, though Molina closed strong with a flurry of punches that apparently beat the fight of his opponent.
Gonzales’ corner continued to work on the cut over his right eye, but it would instead provide evidence that he was no longer interested in continuing. When asked if he was able to see, no response was given other than wincing the pain, prompting the sudden ending to a fun bout.
The official time was 3:00 of the fifth round.
Molina advances to 13-0 (6KO); Gonzalez dips to 8-2-1 (4KO) with his second straight loss.
The show was presented by Golden Boy Promotions and aired live on Telefutura.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.