sa国际传媒官网网页入口

Saturday night at Expo New Mexico, sa国际传媒官网网页入口 boxer Abraham Perez did something an Olympic bronze medalist couldn鈥檛 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鈥檚 Manuel Lujan Exhibit Complex.

It was Perez鈥檚 first defense of the International Boxing Federation Intercontinental flyweight title he won in defeating the Philippines鈥� 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.

鈥滻 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 broken or anything,鈥� Perez said. 鈥淣othing too severe. 鈥� It鈥檚 swollen. We鈥檙e gonna get an X-ray of it (on Monday) and see what鈥檚 going on in there.鈥�

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鈥檇 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 sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Matt Griego-Ortega (13-0, nine K0S) in a six-round bout.

Mendoza went into the eighth round against Australia鈥檚 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.

鈥滺e鈥檚 definitely not (a bum),鈥� Perez said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very tough and very durable. That fact that he was able to get up from that knockdown says a lot about him.鈥�

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 鈥� headed by Aaron Perez, Abraham鈥檚 father 鈥� is planning another card this fall.

鈥滺opefully,鈥� Abraham Perez said, 鈥渃ross our fingers and if everything goes as planned, we鈥檒l go ahead and step it up for an IBA world title.

In other bouts, as reported by :

sa国际传媒官网网页入口'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 sa国际传媒官网网页入口an 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.

sa国际传媒官网网页入口's Jordanne Garcia (4-3-3) lost by unanimous decision to Mexico's Citialli Ortiz (4-1) over six rounds.

sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Daniel Gonzales (4-1, two KOs) scored an impressive victory by four-round unanimous decision over Oklahoma City鈥檚 Shadi Shawareb (9-4, five KOs)

El Paso鈥檚 Cesar Alvarado remained unbeaten (3-0, one KO) with a win by four-round unanimous decision over sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Sterling Peak (2-1, one KO).

sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Martin Armijo (3-0, one KO) defeated Joshua Reyes (3-2, one KO) by four-round majority decision.

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