At the StubHub Center, Los Angeles, Julio Ceja climbed off the canvas in the 3rd round to stop Hugo Ruiz in the 5th round. Ruiz was able to beat the count, but couldn’t withstand Ceja’s blistering assault as he was blasted with power shots and eventually knocked back into the ropes. At that point the referee quite rightly put a halt to the Junior Featherweight contest.
This was a spectacular win for Ceja who was down on Boxing Base’s scorecard 40-35 going into the 5th. Ceja now extends his record to 30-1, 27 KO, while Ruiz’s falls to 35-3, 31 KO.
Then in the Santa Cruz vs Mares co-feature, Alejandro Luna and Sergio Lopez produced another barnstormer. The bout was neck and neck until finally something had to give in the 4th round; Luna hurt Lopez, and began taking chunks out of his rope-bound foe. Soon after, the referee called the explosive Lightweight clash off.
Luna now improves to 19-0, 14 KO, while Lopez drops to 20-9-1, 13 KO.
Santa Cruz vs Mares Round by Round: Undercard
Alejandro Luna vs Sergio Lopez
Round 1: Fast start from both men, both pumped up. This looks to be another action-packed affair. Lopez, 10-9
Round 2: The pace remains, with both men swinging with bad intentions. Luna throwing whistling left-hooks, highly aggressive. Lopez digging in with his own thunderous blows. They mean business, folks. Luna, 10-9 (19-19)
Round 3: Wow, this is becoming seriously heated. Both men toe-to-toe, looking to take each other out with every blow. Hooks, straights, it’s all flying! Lopez, 10-9 (29-28)
Round 4: Luna goes straight to work, batters his man on the ropes, gets the stoppage! This fight is over!
Result: Luna wins via 4th round TKO
Hugo Ruiz vs Julio Ceja
Round 1: Ruiz with the jab, counter-right. Ruiz looking hot out the gate, lands an uppercut. Jab from Ceja, trying to find an opening. Finds some success off a one-two. Ruiz gets stuck in, fires back. Good opener. Ruiz, 10-9
Round 2: Ruiz on the jab, looking sharp. Finds a clean right-straight. Good stuff. Ceja clips his foe with a zipping left-hook. Could prove dangerous in the fight. Ceja growing in confidence, working his way inside. Right-hand down the pipe from Ruiz. Ruiz, 10-9 (20-18)
Round 3: Both men beginning to open up. Leather flying here. Ceja looking to close down the distance. Takes a right-hand for his efforts. Intriguing bout. Ceja down off a left-hook! Ceja beats the count, does a good of surviving, sees out the round. Ruiz, 10-9 (30-26)
Round 4: Ceja regrouping, a real warrior, but it’s not long before Ruiz starts landing telling blows. Ceja trying to land that dangerous counter-left, but can’t find Ruiz’s whiskers. Ruiz, 10-9 (40-35)
Round 5: Ceja fighting his heart out. Ceja drops Ruiz with a right-hand, left-hook! Smothers Ruiz after he regains his feet! Twenty seconds later this fight is over!
Result: Ceja wins via 5th round TKO
Boxing Base Scorecard: 40-35, Ruiz
Give us your take on Ruiz vs Ceja, Lopez vs Luna, plus the rest of the Santa Cruz vs Mares card.
The BoxingBase.com writing staff provide worldwide boxing news, coverage and analysis – they can be contacted via email and social media.
