By Jake Donovan
Juan Francisco Estrada retained his unified flyweight titlists, stopping Rommel Asenjo in three rounds Saturday evening in Merida, Mexico.
The mismatch was mercifully halted by Asenjo's corner, who literally threw in the towel roughly 40 seconds into round three.
Estrada was hardly forced to break a sweat in less than seven minutes of one-sided action. Asenjo absorbed a major league beating without offering anything other than brief resistance in return.
Combination punching both to the body and upstairs had Asenjo in deep trouble in round two, although managing to remain on his feet. The physical damage was already done, as his eye was rapidly closing shut.
Estrada finished him off in round three, scoring what was apparently a body shot knockdown only for the referee to rule the sequence a slip. It was enough for Asenjo's corner, who launched a towel into the ring to signal their fighter's surrender.
The win is now six straight for Estrada, who improves to 32-2 (23KOs). The streak followed his herculean effort in a Nov. '12 war with Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez for the 108 lb. title. Estrada returned to flyweight following the bout, scoring an upset of Brian Viloria in Apr. '13 to win two belts.
Four successful defenses have followed, including three straight stoppages in title fights. The soon-to-be-25 year old was coming off of a 10-round decision of previously unbeaten Joebert Alvarez in a non-title fight last December.
While Asenjo and Alvarez failed honor their fighting pride Philippine nation, a far more formidable Pinoy challenge awaits Estrada down the road. Talks have already begun of a future showdown with 108 lb. titlist Donnie Nietes, who won earlier in the day and is planning to move up in weight after a scheduled July 4 mandatory title defense versus Francisco Rodriguez Jr.
UNDERCARD
Miguel Berchelt earned his fourth consecutive win in forcing Rene Gonzalez to quit on his stool after five rounds in their junior lightweight bout.
The beIn Sport Espanol-televised opener featured a driven effort by Belchert, whose handlers are eyeing a title shot in the near future. Their mighty slugger did his part in the ring, tagging Gonzalez with combinations upstairs and slicing apart his tender skin.
A cut over the right eye of Gonzalez was met with extensive corner work after round five, as well as a lengthy visit from the ringside physician. The command decision was made to not allow Gonzalez to come out for round six.
Berchelt has now scored knockouts in each of his past four starts, this bout extending the deepest among the run. His record now moves to 25-1-1 (22KOs).
Opening up the TV Azteca portion of the show (the cards are often split between two networks in it stateside coverage), Moises Fuentes (21-2-1, 11KOs) scored a six-round decision over Javier Cifuentes. The bout marked the second straight at flyweight for Fuentes, a former top 108 lb. contender.
Aaron 'Joya' Herrera made quick work of Raul Hinojosa, who was not at all feeling the decision made by the referee to stop their fight after just 1:22 of ring action.
Herrera (29-3-1, 18KOs) jumped on his opponent early and had him trapped along the ropes. Hinojosa did his best to bob and weave his way out of trouble, but his actions were (mis-?)interpreted by the referee as an ability to any longer defend himself, thus jumping in to end matters less than 90 seconds into the fight.
Pedro Campo (16-0, 14KOs) kept his unbeaten record intact after drilling Dario Garibay six rounds into their junior welterweight affair. A counter overhand right had Garibay (11-2-1, 7KOs) down and in trouble, with the referee waiving off the contest.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
