By Jake Donovan

Mexico's Hugo Ruiz gained sweet revenge over countryman Julio Ceja, scoring a 1st round knockout in their super bantamweight title fight rematch Saturday evening at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. 

The win avenged a 5th round loss suffered by Ruiz last August, a fight in which he had Ceja down on the canvas and badly hurt but was unable to close the show. 

There was no such concern this time around. Ruiz promised a quick start in their Showtime-televised co-feature bout and lived up to his word, landing a long, clean right hand just 0:15 into the contest. Ceja hit the deck hard, rolling his right ankle on the way down to the canvas and was limping as he rose to his feet in beating the mandatory eight count.

While his head was clear, Ceja's sudden lack of mobility made him a virtual sitting duck for his fellow murderous punching super bantamweight counterpart. Ruiz took advantage of the moment, landing a flurry along the ropes until the referee was left with no choice but to stop the contest. 

"As for the stoppage, it was a no-brainer," referee Tom Taylor told Showtime's Jim Grey. "He was defenseless against the ropes, taking a number of shots and leaving me no choice but to stop the contest."

The official time was 0:51 of round one. 

Having previously served as an interim titlist, Ruiz captures his first true world title as he improves to 36-3 (31KOs). It comes on his third try, having previously dropped a debated 12-round decision to Koki Kameda in their Dec. '12 bantamweight title clash in Japan and then the disheartening knockout loss to Ceja for the vacant title last August. 

To his credit, he not only rebounded from the setback, but lived up to his bold pre-fight prediction of a 1st round knockout win. 

"I was prepared to knock him out in one round, although I was also prepared to go 12 rounds if I had to," insisted Ruiz, who relocated his training camp for this fight to Guadalajara, far away from his Los Mochis hometown. "We were prepared physically and mentally. "Pollito" Ceja is a great fighter, we took this fight very seriously and were well prepared.

"We prepared for this right hand to land that way, we worked on it throughout training camp and it worked to perfection." 

As for what's next, that all depends on the sanctioning bodies and other moving parts in the loaded super bantamweight division. Waiting in the wings is mandatory challenger Rey Vargas - who scored a knockout win over Christian Esquivel on the non-televised undercard - and a fairly easy fight to make, as Ruiz, Vargas and Ceja are all promoted by Promociones del Pueblo in Mexico.

Sanctioning bodies will allow exceptions to a mandatory defense for optional fights such as a unification clash. Given what's taken place on a loaded boxing Saturday, a natural fit would be unbeaten Carl Frampton, who bested longtime UK rival Scott Quigg in their two-belt unification clash earlier in the day in Manchester, England.

However, Frampton is weighed down with not one but two mandatory challenges, neither one of which seem to carry much flexibility in terms of taking a voluntary defense.

Whomever he fights next, it undoubtedly will not be a rubber match with Ceja (30-2, 27KOs). The 23-year old dethroned champ was taken out of the ring on a stretcher and rushed to UC Irvine Hospital for what is believed to be a dislocated - possibly fractured - right ankle.  

Whether a mandatory defense versus countryman Vargas or a unification clash, Ruiz just wants big fights from here on out. 

"I'm looking for the best fighters, the best paydays - the best opportunity out there," Ruiz simply stated. 

Headlining tonight's event is Santa Cruz making the first defense of his WBA featherweight crown against former champ Kiko Martinez.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox