Perez dominant in stopping Mendoza

Saturday night at Expo New Mexico, Albuquerque boxer Abraham Perez did something an Olympic bronze medalist couldn’t do: stop rugged Californian Gilberto Mendoza short of the prescribed distance.

Perez (8-0, four knockouts) dominated throughout in defeating Mendoza (19-14-4, 10 KOs) by eighth-round TKO in the main event of a Legacy Promotions card at the Expo’s Manuel Lujan Exhibit Complex.

It was Perez’s first defense of the International Boxing Federation Intercontinental flyweight title he won in defeating the Philippines’ Jeronil Borres on March 8.

Photos: Expo Explosion Boxing Event

Photos from Saturday's Expo Explosion Boxing Event

On Feb. 24 at the Rio Rancho Events Center, Mendoza had gone eight full rounds with Kansan Nico Hernandez, who won an Olympic bronze medal in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Though Hernandez won every round on all three scorecards, he never really had Mendoza in trouble.

Perez had Mendoza in trouble almost from the start on Saturday, dropping him with a left uppercut in the second round. An injury to that left hand, Perez said on Sunday in a phone interview, might have prevented him from putting Mendoza on the canvas again.

”I don’t think it’s broken or anything,” Perez said. “Nothing too severe. … It’s swollen. We’re gonna get an X-ray of it (on Monday) and see what’s going on in there.”

From the third round on, Perez said, he continued to throw left jabs but relied mostly on his right hand. He was effective enough that, after the seventh round, Mendoza opted not to come out for the eighth.

This, from a veteran of 36 previous professional bouts who’d been stopped short of the distance in only three of those. Mendoza has gone the distance not only with Hernandez (now 11-0 with four KOs) but with Albuquerque’s Matt Griego-Ortega (13-0, nine K0S) in a six-round bout.

Mendoza went into the eighth round against Australia’s Andrew Moloney (25-3-1, 16 KOs) a former world champion, via referee stoppage while still on his feet. There were no knockdowns.

In other words, this was no bum that Perez dropped, battered, frustrated and ultimately stopped.

”He’s definitely not (a bum),” Perez said. “He’s very tough and very durable. That fact that he was able to get up from that knockdown says a lot about him.”

The impressive victory says enough about Perez that an IBA world title shot might be in the offing. The IBA world flyweight title is vacant, and Legacy Promotions — headed by Aaron Perez, Abraham’s father — is planning another card this fall.

”Hopefully,” Abraham Perez said, “cross our fingers and if everything goes as planned, we’ll go ahead and step it up for an IBA world title.

In other bouts, as reported by boxingnewmexico.com:

Albuquerque's Cristian Cabral (9-2, four KOs) returned to the ring after a five-year hiatus with a victory by six-round unanimous decision over fellow Albuquerquean Daniel Flores Garcia (3-8, two KOs).

Cabral agreed to the fight even though Flores Garcia weighed in 5 pounds over the contracted 162-pound limit.

Bosque Farms' Katherine Lindenmuth made short work of her fight against Theresa Day, stopping the Hobbs boxer in just 48 seconds of the first round. Lindenmuth is 5-1 with two KOs. Day was making her pro debut.

Albuquerque's Jordanne Garcia (4-3-3) lost by unanimous decision to Mexico's Citialli Ortiz (4-1) over six rounds.

Albuquerque’s Daniel Gonzales (4-1, two KOs) scored an impressive victory by four-round unanimous decision over Oklahoma City’s Shadi Shawareb (9-4, five KOs)

El Paso’s Cesar Alvarado remained unbeaten (3-0, one KO) with a win by four-round unanimous decision over Albuquerque’s Sterling Peak (2-1, one KO).

Albuquerque’s Martin Armijo (3-0, one KO) defeated Joshua Reyes (3-2, one KO) by four-round majority decision.

Kirtland’s Elija Martinez (2-0, no KOs) defeated Las Cruces’ Garret Lopez (2-4, two KOs).5