Nearly a year after they were initially due to meet, Vieris Ortega made Joel Cordova regret his disrespectful comments.
The visiting Colombian puncher picked up his biggest win to date with a one-sided seventh-round stoppage of former title challenger Joel Cordova. A steady stream of punishment was enough to call for the end of the contest at 1 minute and 25 seconds of Round 7 in their junior bantamweight affair Saturday at Sala Urbana in Naucalpan, Mexico.
The two were due to meet on the final Miura Boxing show of 2024, only for Cordova to accept a short-notice assignment against Ayuma Hamada last December 6 at this very venue. Cordova, 14-13-2 (3 KOs), dropped a split decision to the Osaka-born, Mexico City-based prospect Hamada in a fight he wasn’t necessarily meant to win or be particularly competitive.
Ortega, 14-1 (13 KOs), went against the grain of Colombian boxers with puffed-up records. Although no knockdowns were scored on the night, he repeatedly hurt Cordova over the course of their DAZN preliminary bout. Cordova’s moments were brief and always dwarfed by the constant pressure applied by Ortega, a regular at this venue who has now won 12 in a row.
Cordova has fallen on hard times since his lone career title challenge, a sixth-round knockout defeat to then-WBC 112lbs titleholder Julio Cesar Martinez in June 2021. The setback snapped a four-fight win streak at the time. Dating back to that defeat, Cordova has now dropped nine of his past 10 starts.
Speaking of Hamada, 12-4-1 (8 KOs), things didn’t go his way on this evening, either. He suffered a defeat on the undercard, as he was upset by Miguel Texcucano, 7-7-2 (4 KOs), via split decision in their junior bantamweight battle.
Popular lightweight Ariel Gonzalez, 7-2-4 (4 KOs), picked up his first win in more than a year when he halted Adrian Ramirez, 9-2 (9 KOs). Their entertaining slugfest saw Gonzalez floor Ramirez, of Aguascalientes, Mexico, with a left hook and then batter him with power shots until the bout was stopped at 1 minute, 39 seconds of Round 4.
Ramirez had won nine straight following a loss in his pro debut. Gonzalez is unbeaten in his past seven fights after sputtering to a 1-2-2 career start. However, he was held to a draw in his previous outing, on August 23 in this very venue.
Kevin Boakye, 4-0 (4 KOs), picked up a huge road win with a fourth-round knockout of Aguascalientes’ Mario Vera, 5-1 (5 KOs). Their spirited battle of unbeaten super middleweights saw Boakye – a visiting prospect from Hamburg, Germany – floor Vera with a right to the body. An ensuing volley of shots forced the stoppage at 1 minute, 40 seconds of the fourth round.
Elliot Taylor, 3-0 (3 KOs), made quick work of overmatched Ismael Salgado, 3-3 (1 KO). A barrage of punches had Salgado hurt, with a final left hand sending him to the canvas. The referee picked up his count and stopped the contest at 1 minute and 29 seconds of Round 1.
Mario Cuenca edged Isaac Zavaleta via unanimous decision (39-36, 38-37, 39-36) in an entertaining scrap between pro debutants.
A featherweight contest between Ismael Garnica, 14-6-3 (6 KOs), and Jose Ramirez, 10-3-1 (9 KOs), ended in a technical draw after just one round. A clash of heads left Garnica with a cut outside his left eyelid, deemed too severe to allow the bout to continue.
Pedro Razo defeated Brandon Ledzema via unanimous decision (40-36, 40-36, 39-37) in their four-round welterweight contest.
