Ricardo Sandoval stopped Carlos Buitrago in a pulsating eight-round thrashing in a super flyweight fight scheduled for ten at the YouTube theater in Inglewood, California.
Sandoval (24-2, 17 KOs) and Buitrago (38-13-1) had met once before, with Sandoval winning by seventh-round technical knockout. There seemed to be no need for a rematch.
Buitrago was intent on proving that assumption wrong. Sandoval frequently landed clean, hard punches in every single round. Buitrago reacted by throwing back in phone-booth action and even showboating at times.
Sandoval was in control from the opening bell, however. In the second round, a jab rocked Buitrago and sent him stumbling backwards, visibly hurting him more than anything else Sandoval threw in the fight.
In the third round, Sandoval looked like he was breaking Buitrago down. Near the end of the round, Buitrago landed a brutal straight right hand that wobbled Sandoval, exciting Buitrago so much that he landed a right clearly after the bell.
The moment gave Buitrago immense confidence — he stood on the ropes in the fourth, taunting Sandoval and inviting him in. But he continued to eat hard shot after hard shot.
Sandoval, observing his opponent’s granite chin, began attacking the body in round five. His punches to the stomach and sides reduced Buitrago’s output and started backing the 32-year-old up.
Buitrago again looked hurt by body shots in the seventh. Sandoval accelerated the beating in the eighth, several times to the point that the fight was an inch away from being stopped. Each time, though, Buitrago threw a flurry or landed a big shot in the nick of time.
The referee stopped the fight between the eighth and the ninth due to the ringside doctor’s observation of the accumulated damage on Buitrago’s face. The end was brutal for the veteran, who had showed astonishing chin and courage and wanted to continue.
Regardless, Sandoval earned the stoppage. “It’s hard to beat somebody who doesn’t want to quit,” Mike Tyson once said, and Sandoval did just that.