Junior lightweight contender Abel Mendoza stopped former three-time world title challenger Victor Zaleta of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in round 4 Saturday night at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalaro, New Mexico.

Mendoza, who resides in nearby El Paso, Texas, improves to 31-0, 24 knockouts.

From the opening bell, Mendoza was the aggressor, forcing Zaleta to fight off his back foot. Mendoza focused his attack to the body, but a left hook to the chin buckled Zaleta near the end of the opening round. Moments later, a right hand to the body dropped Zaleta to one knee. Zaleta was able to beat the count and make it out of the round.

“He (Zaleta) is known for being a tough guy,” said Mendoza, who, including the win over Zaleta, has fought five times this year. “He has the experience. I knew the body shots would slow him down a lot. That is always my gameplan: try to break him down, stop him, and do whatever it takes to win the fight. We practice all different styles in the gym. We knew that we’d break him down with the body shots and slow him down. I started off a little slow, but we knew we’d break him down.”

Mendoza’s unrelenting pressure took their toll on Zaleta as the bout progressed. A well-placed punch to the body dropped Zaleta a second time in the fight, prompting referee David Rios to stop the fight at 2:23. 

Zaleta, who drops to 20-6-1, 10 KOs and has lost his last four bouts, challenged then-IBF bantamweight titleholder Leo Santa Cruz in November 2012, losing by knockout in round 9. Mendoza believes he is ready to take that next step up in opposition and face the likes of Santa Cruz.

“We’re hoping to get the fight with Leo Santa Cruz,” said Mendoza. “We’re ready for him.”

The fight was the co-feature to the exhibition bout between Marco Antonio Barrera and Daniel Ponce de Leon, both of whom were born and raised in Mexico. There were no knockdowns during the six-round exhibition.

Welterweight Xavier Madrid of Albuquerque improved to 3-0, 1 KO by scoring a one-punch knockout of Daniel Arriaga, who was making his pro debut. A right-left combination dropped Arriaga about a minute into the opening round.

Clinton Chavez, another welterweight from Albuquerque, defeated Oklahoma City’s Anthony Hill (1-31) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Chavez, who improves to 6-0, 4 KOs.

In junior lightweight action, Avoran Graham of Belleville, Illinois improved to 8-0, 5 KOs by defeating journeyman Alejandro Moreno over six one-sided rounds. All three judges scored the bout 40-33 for Graham.

Moreno, who resides in Ciudad Juarez, has now lost his last 19 bouts.

Johnny ‘Nicco’ Tapia, who is the son of the late Johnny Tapia, defeated El Paso’s Brandon Lira by split-decision. Both fighters were making their amateur debut. 

The card was promoted by Tapia Promotions, which is run by Teresa Tapia, and was streamed live on Fite.TV with former fighters David Rodriguez and Josh Torres calling the action from ringside.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 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 by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing