By Francisco Salazar
Fringe junior lightweight contender Roger Gutierrez knocked out Leonardo Padilla Thursday night at the Plaza de la Paz in Cartagena, Colombia.
It was a battle of fighters from Venezuela, some of whom now live and train in Colombia due to the economic problems in Venezuela.
Padilla is considered a prospect, but was overwhelmed by the aggression and experience of Gutierrez.
The bigger and stronger Gutierrez broke down Padilla in each round. Gutierrez dropped Padilla twice in round four, both with right hands to the head.
Gutierrez (21-3, 18 knockouts) continued to dominate Padilla in round five. After a barrage of punches from Gutierrez hurt Padilla, referee Uriel Aguilera stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:13.
The 23-year-old Gutierrez has won his last two bouts after losing back-to-back bouts to prospects Hector Tanajara, Jr. and Oscar Duarte earlier this year. Gutierrez suffered his first loss of his pro career at the hands of junior lightweight contender Rene Alvarado in July of last year.
Padilla has now dropped two of his last three bouts and falls to 17-2, 13 KOs.
Junior welterweight prospect Placido Ramirez knocked out veteran Yogli Herrera (29-22, 21 KOs) at 1:05 of the fifth round.
The fight was a rematch of their eight round clash on Sept. 28, which Ramirez won by unanimous decision.
Ramirez (15-1, 10 KOs), who resides in Soplaviento, Colombia, has now won his last five bouts since his knockout loss to Sonny Frederickson.
Junior featherweights Leonardo Carillo (9-0-1, 4 KOs) and Luis Guerrero (5-1-1, 4 KOs) fought to an eight round split decision draw. Each fighter won 76-75 on a judge’s scorecard, but the third judge scored the bout 76-76.
Hard-hitting featherweight Luis Ruiz (13-2, 13 KOs) knocked out Jasond Prado (4-9-1) at 2:48 of the opening round.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
