By Jake Donovan
 
It was like old times for resurging flyweight contender Jesus “El Zurdo” Jimenez. The richly talented southpaw had his way with a familiar foe in scoring a fourth-round knockout over late replacement Salvador Modes, Friday night at Foro Scotiabank in Mexico City, Mexico.

The bout aired live as a stand-alone telecast on Telemundo.

There was little to differentiate between each round. Jimenez owned advantaged across the board, namely in height (5’7” to Montes’ 5’4”) and especially in talent. Such was evident from the opening bell. Jimenez was patient as he boxed from the outside, while Montes looked like a guy who accepted assignment on three days’ notice.

It would be two minutes and 30 seconds before Montes landed his first punch of the fight. By that point, he’d already absorbed a beauty of a right uppercut as well as several left hands to the body. His luck didn’t change any in round two. Jimenez kept the diminutive journeyman at the end of his jab, effectively cutting off the ring as he was able to establish his straight left.

With two rounds of target practice in the bank, Jimenez turned up the heat in the third. The jab came less frequently as the southpaw came forward with lead lefts and an effective body attack. Montes tried his hardest to block most of the incoming, but became more outgunned as the round wore on.

A flurry by Jimenez late in the frame served as a precursor to the ending, though Montes could take solace in having lasted longer than their first meeting, a third-round knockout for Jimenez in April ’06.

That’s not to say he was any more competitive in this fight. Each round was more lopsided than its predecessor, a trend which held true in the fourth – and what would be the final – round. Jimenez clearly had knockout on the mind, his eyes fixated on any opening that would present itself.

A straight left toward rounds end provided such an outlet. Montes’ head snapped back from the blow, leaving himself open for a left uppercut and a follow up body attack. Jimenez poured it on in center ring for the next ten or so seconds before referee Gabriel Peralta decided Montes could no longer defend himself, thus waving off the action.

The official time was 2:42 of round four.

Jimenez now cruises to 21-5 (14KO) with the win, his tenth in a row, including eight consecutive stoppage wins. That’s the good news – the bad news is that few have come against respectable competition, save for a 6th round stoppage of divisional trial horse Jonathan Perez last July.

Friday night was supposed to change that, as Jimenez was originally slated to face Alejandro Gonzalez. Those plans changed once Gonzalez backed out of the fight earlier this week, leaving promoters to scramble for a last minute fill-in.

Enter Montes, who accepted the fight on Tuesday. He takes a beating for his efforts, and also watches his record dip below .500 for the first time in his four-year career as he falls to 5-6 (2KO), even though a much glossier record was announced to the crowd beforehand.

This was the third meeting between the two fighters in less than three years. Jimenez previously stopped Montes in five rounds (April ’07) and three rounds (April ’06).

The telecast was desperate to fill up the allotted 90-minute time slot, as evidenced by the airing of an undefeated prospect versus a fighter who’s yet to win a professional prize fight.

The numbers remained the same, as Francisco Barrera easily cruised past Jose Luis Calzada in their scheduled four-round bantamweight bout.

There was little quit in Calzada, whose inability to land a punch hardly discouraged him from moving forward and constantly throwing. Barrera was far more diplomatic in his approach, standing in the eye of the storm and counterpunching Calzada into oblivion.

A picture-perfect counter left hook floored the winless Mexican midway through the opening round, though Calzada quickly recovered to come back for more. He’d make it out of the round, and even managed to frustrate Barrera in the second, though nothing in the way of legal tactics, as Barrera constantly complained of holding and hitting behind the head.

Calzada kept coming forward in the third round, forcing Barrera to play defense a little more than he expected. That changed about a minute into the frame, when the taller Barrera used his height and reach advantage to throw and land from the outside. Several chopping right hands found their mark, causing Calzada to think twice before bullrushing his opponent.

Barrera picked up the pace in the fourth and final round, taking the fight to Calzada in hopes of ending matters before the final bell. His persistence paid off; several right hands found their way home on Calzada’s grill, enough to convince referee Gelasio Perez that it wasn’t worth letting the bout go the final 22 seconds.

The official time was 2:38 of round four.

It’s now four straight at the Foro Scotiabank for Barrera, who improves overall to 7-0 (4KO). Calzada is now 0-2, with both of his pro fights having taken place in this very venue.

In a telecast that would feature more 0-1 fighters than any other in recent memory, another former Fernando Barrera knockout victim would receive airtime.

Ivan Luis Mendoza lasted longer this time around than his one-round exit against Barrera last October, but not by much as local pro debuter Fernando Aguilar took care of business in the second round of their four-round bantamweight swing bout. A left hook put Mendoza (now 0-2) on queer street late in the second, prompting Rafael Saldana to intervene. The stoppage was perhaps a tad premature, but the bout didn’t threaten to last much longer.

The show was presented by Ricardo Maldonado’s Promociones Deportivas and Felix “Tuto” Zabala’s All Star Latin American Promotions.
 
Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.