Zamora Edges Moreno In Trilogy; Vargas Survives Scare

By Jake Donovan

Ibeth Zamora was considered a paper champion for as long as she didn't get past the title's previous claimant, Esmeralda Moreno who never lost the belt in the ring. 

That claim now rings hollow, with Zamora not only solidifying her championship status but settling an old score in the process. A hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision gave Zamora her fifth successful title defense, and also pulling ahead in her three-fight series with Moreno. 

The pair of junior flyweights met early in their respective careers, with Zamora claiming a split decision win in just her second pro bout in Aug. '07. Moreno came back to win a majority decision six months later, the win propelling her to the title stage. 

It took several tries for Moreno to finally claim the junior flyweight crown, winning a 10-round decision over Naomi Togashi in 2012. She managed just one defense before spending exactly 52 weeks out of the ring—long enough to prompt the World Boxing Council (WBC) to render her a Champion in Recess. 

The title meant that she would be obligated to face the new title winner upon her return, which happened to be Zamora. The rubber match was stalled when Moreno went in a different direction—and a dark path in her career, suffering a draw and a loss to fall from the title stage. 

She had since won six straight heading into Saturday's main event, but found herself behind the eight ball as Zamora was able to build up an early lead. Open scoring had the defending champion up 39-37 through four rounds. 

Moreno fought back hard, but can manage to do no better than fight on even terms over the second half of the fight. The rally was admirable but not enough to overcome the early deficit. 

Scores of 96-94, 97-94 and 97-93 gave Zamora her ninth straight win as she improves to 24-5 (9KOs) and remains champion. Moreno falls to 31-8-1 (10KOs), ending a six-fight win streak. 

Rey Vargas spent much of the past week both congratulating and calling out recently crowned super bantamweight titlist Julio Ceja. Visiting challenger Lucian Gonzalez spent much of fight week insisting he was being overlooked and that an upset was in the works. 

The latter appeared to be true through two rounds, with Vargas climbing off the canvas to survive a major scare in an eight-round decision win in the evening's co-feature. 

It wasn't exactly the best night at the office for the unbeaten super bantamweight contender, who spent the first few rounds fending off a furious attack from Gonzalez. A beauty of an overhand right from the visiting Dominican had Vargas down and hurt late in round two.

Where Vargas will have a fighting chance in just about any contest is the years of wisdom in his corner. The 24-year old is a student of Hall of Fame trainer Nacho Beristain, who urged his young protege to slow down his heart rate and concentrate on the basics.

It took a couple of rounds for the lesson to fully kick in, but Vargas eventually seized control of the fight and was able to avoid what would have been high among the biggest upsets of the year. 

Scores of 78-73 across the board suggest that perhaps the judges had their minds made up early on, as Gonzalez certainly deserved to win more than one round on the cards. 

Nevertheless, it was a well-earned victory for Vargas. The rising contender advances to 25-0 (21KOs) and can now spend his time and energy focusing on securing a mandated title shot versus Ceja, who claimed the super bantamweight title with an off-the-canvas knockout win over Hugo Ruiz last weekend in Los Angeles.

Both bouts aired live on Televisa. 

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.

Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

Facebook Page: JakeBScene