Rene Santiago, Derrieck Cuevas & Yunior Menendez Take Home Minor Titles
In an action-packed, light flyweight battle, Rene Santiago (11-3, 7KO) retained the WBO Latino light flyweight title after stopping Carlos Ortega (15-7-3, 6KO). This fight started with fireworks as both fighters threw big shots early, looking for the knockout. Ortega was doing well off the front foot, landing good counter shots. Santiago got to work landing like a sniper with counter left and right hooks with pinpoint accuracy that wobbled Ortega. As the fight continued, Santiago couldn’t miss. Any punch thrown was knocking the sweat off Ortega’s head. After getting hit by a series of punishing shots while up against the ropes, Ortega’s corner decided to stop the fight in the ninth round. Rene Santiago put on an excellent performance en route to a dominating victory.
DERRIECK CUEVAS FLATLINES DAMIAN RODRIGUEZ WITH EASE
In a welterweight showdown in Panama City, Derrieck Cuevas (25-1-1, 16KO) made quick work of Damian Rodriguez (13-2, 7KO) in two rounds. If you went to the bathroom or walked away for a brief moment then you are coming back to the replay. After the feel-out portion of the fight in round one, Cuevas started coming forward and caught Rodriguez’s timing before exploding with a compact right and left hook counter that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas. Despite beating the count, the referee waved off the fight after Rodriguez took several seconds to respond to his command to come forward. Derrieck Cuevas is now on a two-fight win streak since losing to Damian Bonelli in 2020. Furthermore, he retained the WBA Fedecentro title.
YUNIOR MENENDEZ BEATS DOWN JUAN CHAVARRIA IN FOUR
In the light heavyweight division, Cuban prospect Yunior Menendez (7-0, 6KO) ran over Juan Carlos Chavarria (6-2, 6KO) in four quick rounds. It was clear from the start of the bell that Menendez was the far superior fighter. He controlled the fight with the jab and straight left hand to the body. Moreover, the Cuban realized his opponent was vulnerable to the counter hook. So, he started finishing off every combination with sharp, counter left and right hooks that put Chavarria on the canvas in the third round. Chavarria got up and narrowly survived the round only to taste the canvas in the fourth round by another brutal series of combinations, which prompted the referee to wave off the fight. Yunior Menendez picked up the win along with the WBC FECERBOX title.
