Oscar Ibarra Batters Darwin Zamora In Four Rounds

By Jake Donovan

Resurging flyweight contender Oscar Ibarra scored his seventh straight win after stopping Darwin Zamora in four rounds Friday evening at Auditorio Plaza Condesa in Mexico City.

Both fighters weighed in at the flyweight limit of 112 for their Telemundo-aired main event.

Ibarra was in control of the action from the very beginning, staggering Zamora in each of the first two rounds. Zamora attempted a rally in the third, a rare frame where Ibarra boxed more than brawled. However, the Nicaraguan prospect was warned for illegal use of his head, an instance which seemed to kill any momentum he may have gained.

Things went back to normal in the fourth, with Ibarra unloading and ultimately overwhelming Zamora. The Mexican applied constant pressure in search of an explosive ending.

One presented itself late in the round. Ibarra played possum just long enough to get Zamora to drop his gloves, before clipping him with a left hook and a right hand. Zamora staggered, first into a corner and then along the ropes, where Ibarra went ballistic, landing more than a dozen unanswered punches before the referee jumped into stop the slaughter.

The official time was 2:54 of round four.

Ibarra improves to 21-4 (13KO) with the win, making it seven in a row and all coming within an eleven-month span since dropping two straight late in 2008.

Zamora falls to 17-4-1 (15KO), with all four losses coming inside the distance and over the course of his last seven fights.

Among Ibarra’s current win streak is six consecutive victories inside the distance. Included among the lot is an eye catching second round knockout of former world junior flyweight title challenger Juan Esquer earlier this year.

OTHER TELEVISED ACTION

Struggling welterweight prospect Johnny Navarette scored a surprise majority decision over prior conqueror Alfredo Chavez in their eight-round swing bout.

The bout was a rematch to their September 2008 meeting, which resulted in the first career loss for Navarette, whose career has since threatened to spiral out of control. He entered this fight having lost three of his last five, but managed to jump out to a quick start, easily taking the first two frames with fluid footwork and sharp boxing.

Chavez picked up the pace in the third, momentarily staggering Navarette as both fighter simultaneously threw and landed left hooks. Chavez’ shot was cleaner and more damaging, causing Navarette to stagger and drop his guard.

The 31-year old prospect, who had been inactive for more than a year, used the opportunity to initiate a brawl, which clearly frustrated Navarette, a boxer by trade. 

The tactic proved effective on the surface, as Navarette was clearly out of his element, never able to swing things back in his favor. The 22-year old tried to revert to boxing, bouncing on his toes and staying on the outside in the sixth round.

It only infuriated Chavez, who eventually bullied his way inside and forced his countryman to clinch whenever a brawl threatened to break out.

The same pattern held true in the final rounds – Chavez was on the hunt, Navarette was more interested in boxing and surviving than mixing it up and risking a knockout.
His strategy proved to be wise, managing to convince two of the three judges to score the bout in his favor. One judge had it even at 56-56, but identical scores of 58-56 allowed Navarette to return to the win column, advancing to 13-3-1 (7KO), breathing new life into a career that was beginning to creep towards journeyman status.

Chavez suffers his first loss in a strange pro career. Having turned pro in December 2007 at age 29, Chavez has managed only two fights in 2008 and one in 2009 before entering Friday’s bout on the heels of a 13-month layoff. He falls to 4-1 (2KO) with the loss.

The punch of the night came in a bout featuring a pair of 0-4 fighters who have been knocked out a combined seven times in eight fights.

Make that knockout number eight, as Jose Ramirez (1-4, 1KO) found the win column with a highlight reel first round knockout over Jorge Hernandez (0-5) in the scheduled six-round welterweight bout.

Very few punches of substance landed in the brief affair, but all it took was a single overhand right to end it. Ramirez caught Hernandez coming in, dropping a right hand flush on his jaw and sending him straight to the canvas. Hernandez tried to beat the count, but couldn’t find his legs as the referee waved off the bout.

Unofficially, the knockout came at approximately 45 seconds into the opening round.

The show was presented by All-Star Boxing.

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.