By Jake Donovan
Jesus Pabon took a step towards title contention on Friday evening after surviving several low blows to bust up and eventually forced Ernesto Zepeda one second into the eighth-round of their Telemundo-televised main event at the A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa, Florida.
It wasn’t exactly a time capsule performance for Pabon, a southpaw from Puerto Rico. The first few rounds tested his patience, as well as his groin, as Zepeda was warned twice in the second round for low blows before losing a point in the third for going low once too often.
Pabon spent most of his time boxing from the outside, rarely engaging unless Zepeda pressed the action and forced him to fight. The Mexican journeyman landed another low blow in the sixth round, drawing the ire of referee Frank Santore Jr,, who threatened to toss him if he couldn’t keep his punches north of the border.
Action remained steady (albeit unspectacular) in the seventh, with Pabon sticking to one-two combinations. Enough of them landed to eventually put Zepeda on the canvas in the closing seconds of the round for the bout’s lone knockdown, busting up his face in the process.
The sequence of events to close the seventh was enough to bust up Zepeda’s face and convince him to call it a night as he didn’t come out of his corner for the eighth.
The official time was 0:01 of the eighth round.
Pabon moves to 15-1 (8KO) with the win in his first fight in more than 17 months, picking up his fourth straight win and a regional welterweight title in the process.
The 33-year old Zepeda continues to lose far more than he wins these days, dropping his third straight and sixth in his last eight fights as he falls to 39-14-4 (34KO).
In the televised co-feature, Cuban prospect Luis Franco improved to 6-0 (5KO) with a fifth-round stoppage of journeyman Yogli Herrera (22-12, 15KO).
Franco suffered a surprising knockdown in the third, when he got caught napping on the inside and was put down with a left hook. The former Olympian came back in the very next round, caching Herrera with a right hand to the temple to score his first knockdown of the bout.
The shot was enough to cause Herrera to quickly unravel. The Colombian was docked two points in the fifth round for holding, but sent packing soon enough when a counter left hook put him on his seat late in the round.
An eight count was administered, but Herrera’s body language suggested prompted the referee to wave off the bout, despite protesting the call immediately afterward.
In other action Daniel Lozano, an undefeated newcomer from Bowling Green, FL, scored a highlight reel third round knockout of Gabriel Cruz in a televised swing bout. A picture perfect left hook put Cruz (3-3-1, 1KO) flat on his back to end the fight at 2:59 of the third round.
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.