by Cliff Rold

25-year old Jr. featherweight Cesar Juarez (19-5, 14 KO), 122, of Mexico City, Mexico, won his second straight on Saturday night at the Auditorio Municipal in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico, scoring a knockdown en route to a ten round unanimous decision over 26-year old Richard Pumicpic (18-8-2, 6 KO), 122, of Pasay City, Manila, Philippines. The referee was Arturo Jota.

Little time was wasted before both men were banging away in close quarters. An exchange of body shots ended with Juarez landing a hard left upstairs to stun Pumicpic. The Filipino stayed up but found himself against the ropes at the end of the round, the more seasoned Juarez landing to the body and head.

The more accurate Juarez largely dominated the energetic second round. Using his height edge, Juarez landed right hands over the top and again stunned Pumicpic near the ropes with a left hook.

The continued in similar fashion for the next few rounds. Juarez was landing more but Pumicpic stayed in the fight, firing back, sometimes wildly, and attacking the body. A clash of heads drew blood on the forehead of Juarez but it didn’t appear to affect his vision. In a wild sixth, Pumicpic stunned Juarez with a hard right but was dropped before the round was over by a left. It was a flash knockdown and Pumicpic argued he’d slipped.

Both men continued to fight hard the rest of the way but even with a spirited effort the most Pumicpic could accomplish was to last the distance. Final scores came in at 95-93, 96-93, and 98-91, all for Juarez. Juarez builds on the momentum of his previous outing, a surprising knockout of undefeated Albert Pagara in July, and a rousing if losing effort against Nonito Donaire in 2015. 

The televised opener featured eight-round action in the Jr. bantamweight division.

Israel Gonzalez (16-1, 5 KO), 113, of Los Cabos, Baja California, Mexico, scored a pair of knockdowns early and held his lead to secure a unanimous decision over 34-year old former WBO 108 lb. titlist Ramon Garcia (20-9-1, 12 KO), 113, of La Paz, Baja California, Mexico. The referee was Arturo Jota.

The younger Gonzalez spent some of the first trying to get his bearings against the cagey veteran. Garcia was warned in the first, and again in the second, for low blows. In the latter frame, Gonzalez made him pay for the transgression. An exchange ended with a long left hook that forced Garcia to the floor. Garcia beat the count and they battled to the bell.

Garcia was down again in the third, this time on a delayed reaction from a right hand. Again he beat the count but Gonzalez was digging a sizable hole. Garcia tried to dig his way out of it in the fourth, trapping Gonzalez on the ropes in the final minute and letting rip with both hands. He couldn’t sustain the attack.

Garcia did stay in the fight and off the floor the rest of the way. In the eighth and final round, he even managed to rock Gonzalez in the closing seconds to provide a gutsy finish in a clearly losing effort. The crowd roared their approval. It wasn’t nearly enough to win though with scores in at 78-72 and 79-73 twice.

It was Garcia’s fifth consecutive loss. 

The card was televised in the US on BeIn Espanol, promoted by Zanfer.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com