Mendoza drops unanimous decision vs. Tellez

If a boxer loses a self-described must-win fight, what then?

That’s the decision facing New Mexico native Brian Mendoza.

Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mendoza lost by unanimous, 10-round decision to Cuba’s Yoenis Tellez in the co-main event of a card at the MGM Grand Garden.

Mendoza (23-5, 17 knockouts) had not hesitated in advance of Saturday’s bout to say he badly needed a victory if he were to re-enter the world title picture in the super welterweight division.

Instead, he’s dealing with his third defeat in his last four fights.

In the third round, it appeared Mendoza might avoid defeat — not with a victory, but by an outcome of no decision after an unintentional Mendoza head strike caught Tellez flush on the nose. But after a five-minute delay, Tellez opted to continue.

Published accounts of the bout do not suggest a one-sided fight, but the official scorecards were decisive: 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93, all favoring Tellez (12-1, eight KOs).

Mendoza’s five defeats have come against opponents with a cumulative record of 79-3 entering those bouts, and he remains the only fighter to have defeated current WBC super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora, who retained that title with a victory by sixth-round TKO over Keith Thurman in Saturday’s main event at the MGM.

A victory over Tellez might have put Mendoza in position for a return match with Fundora.

Instead, at age 32 — neither old nor young for a professional boxer — does Mendoza want to start climbing a now much steeper hill back to contender status?

We’ll see.