Michel Soro ended his run of in-ring misfortune.

The veteran contender earned his first official win since the pandemic and did so in quick fashion. A body shot was enough to put Mexico’s Oziel Santoyo down and out at 1:38 of the second round Friday in Lyon, France.

Soro—who lives in Villeurbanne—hadn’t fought in more than a year but didn’t show any signs of ring rust. The Ring’s No. 9-rated junior middleweight immediately took the fight to Santoyo, a Mexican journeyman who’d never been stopped in 20 previous bouts.

That changed in an instant midway through round two. Soro (36-4-2, 25 knockouts) allowed his charge to come forward and then set him up for the fight-ending sequence. A left hook upstairs was followed by another to the body. The latter forced Santoyo to turn away and wince in pain as he fell into the ropes and down to the canvas. The 29-year-old Monterrey native remained there for the full ten count.

Santoyo fell to 16-4-1 (9 KOs). The loss was his second straight and third in a six-fight span. However, he’d gone the eight-round distance on both of those occasions.

Soro’s last true victory came in Nov. 2019, when he stopped countryman Cedric Vitu in the fifth round.

Just four fights have followed, the previous three on the road prior to Friday. Soro suffered a controversial ninth-round stoppage to unbeaten Israil Madrimov in their Dec. 2021 WBA junior middleweight title eliminator.

A successful protest was filed for an immediate rematch, though it ended in anti-climactic fashion. A clash of heads left Soro unable to come out for the start of the third round in their July 2022 sequel.

Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) went on to claim the WBA 154-pound title earlier this year. The Ring’s No. 3-rated junior middleweight will next face three-division champ Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, California.

Soro hoped for a third fight with Madrimov. He lost out on forcing the trilogy when he suffered a questionable twelve-round split decision defeat to Magomed Kurbanov.

Most observers felt Soro did more than enough to win, a viewpoint shared by just one official judge. Kurbanov went on to challenge for the WBA title but suffered a one-sided knockout defeat to Madrimov on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Soro is no longer ranked by the WBA, though largely due to inactivity. Friday’s ring return should bolster his chances to re-enter their top 15 ratings. However, there is a long wait to the title. In addition to Madrimov-Crawford, the WBA approved a Tim Tszyu-Vergil Ortiz Jr. interim title fight. It was supposed to take place on the Madrimov-Crawford undercard but Tszyu was forced to withdraw due to unhealed wounds from his March 30 defeat to Sebastian Fundora.

Ortiz Jr. is shopping for a new opponent, which could work to Soro’s benefit. The 36-year-old Frenchman was always a WBA favorite, even if a longshot to land this opportunity straightaway.

At the very least, Soro is back in a position where he carries some semblance of leverage. It’s been years since he’s enjoyed that feeling, or of having his arm raised in victory.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JakeNDaBox

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