Ramon Cardenas was not known for his devastating power up until recent fights. That power saved him from defeat against Jesus Eduardo Ramirez.

Cardenas rallied to defeat Ramirez via one-punch knockout Wednesday evening before a sold-out crowd at ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida. A left hook to the body put Ramirez down for the ten-count at 1:37 into the ninth round of their main event.

After a feeling-out opening round, Ramirez positioned himself within punching range to connect lead and counter right hands to the head of Cardenas. The 28-year-old from Guaymas, Mexico also landed land left hooks upstairs.

After being implored to do so more by trainer Joel Diaz, Cardenas let his hands go with more consistency during the middle rounds. The Ring’s No. 10-rated junior featherweight walked Ramirez down during the second half of the fight. Ramirez refused to wilt and found success with counter opportunities even during those moments.

Midway through round nine, Cardenas threw back-to-back jabs followed by a right hand. It set up the fight ending blow, a left hook downstairs to force Ramirez to a knee. Frank Santore, Jr. counted Ramirez out at 1:37.

Cardenas trailed on all three judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage. The win advanced his record to 25-1, with 14 knockouts. Five of his last six victories have come inside the distance.

Ramirez (22-3-3, 16 KOs) has now lost two of his last three fights. He accepted a Dec. 2022 fight with Nick Ball in December 2022 on five days’ notice, and was stopped in the opening round. Ball has since emerged as a top featherweight and is currently ranked No. 4

In the co-feature bout, fringe junior middleweight contender Damian Sosa defeated Marques Valle by split decision. One judge scored the bout 98-92 for Valle, while the other two judges scored the bout 97-93 and 96-94 for Sosa, who improved to 25-2, 12 KOs.

The taller Valle was able to outbox Sosa in the opening round, but Sosa became more the aggressor in the second round, initiating exchanges and attempting to walk Valle down.

During the fourth round, a left hook momentarily stunned Sosa. Valle followed up, but was not able to land anything flush as Sosa recovered and landed his share of punches and combinations on the inside.

Throughout the fight, Valle’s mouthpiece kept falling out of his mouth. Surprisingly, referee Alicia Collins never deducted a point from Valle, choosing to admonish Valle about biting down on his mouthpiece.

Both fighters had their moments during the middle rounds during the action-packed fight. Sosa continued to back Valle against the ropes, throwing and landing hooks and crosses. Whether he had his back against the ropes or in the center of the ring, Valle was able to land a left hook or lead right hand flush, snapping back the head of Sosa.

During the final two rounds, both chose to stand in the pocket, but Sosa was the aggressor and busier, outlanding Valle up until the final bell.

The 27-year-old Sosa has won his last three fights since losing to Ivan Alvarez on April 1 of last year.

Valle, who resides in nearby Tampa, Florida, falls to 10-1, 7 KOs. The 25-year-old is the twin brother of unbeaten junior lightweight prospect Dominic Valle.

In the opening  bout of the stream, former two-time world junior featherweight title challenger Ronny Rios knocked out Nicolas Polanco of the Dominican Republic in the fifth round. Rios improved to 34-4, 17 KOs.

From the opening bell, Rios focused his attack to the body, finding success connecting with both hands. Polanco attempted to counter with uppercuts to the head of Rios.

As the fight progressed, Rios worked from the center of the ring, walking Polanco down. During the early portion of the fifth round, Rios backed Polanco up against the ropes, where he threw two right uppercuts, followed by a left hook to the body. Polanco dropped to his knees, doubling over in pain, where he remained on the canvas as referee Frank Santore, Jr. counted him out at 52 seconds.

The 34-year-old Rios, who grew up in Santa Ana, California, had not fought since June 2022. He challenged then-unified world junior featherweight titleholder Murodjon Akhmadaliev, who won via 12^th round knockout.

Polanco fell to 21-6-1, 12 KOs. He suffered recent defeats to Angelo Leo and Albert Bell.

In preliminary action, junior featherweight Max Ornelas of Las Vegas defeated Nicaragua’s Alexander Mejia (19-8, 8 KOs) by decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Ornelas, who improved to 16-2-1, 5 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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