Brian Mendoza (21-2) picked up the biggest win of his career earlier this month, when he stopped former Jeison Rosario in the 5th round of their Showtime televised bout. The fight took place at the Armory in Minneapolis. 

The Albuquerque native started off fast, dropping Rosario in the second round with a body shot  An uppercut in the 5th ended the fight and effectively ended Rosario’s career. After the fight the former unified champion said that he had had enough and announced his retirement. 

After having a couple days to reflect on his performance, Mendoza was naturally pleased with his performance which came on less than 2 weeks notice. 

“I feel great about the entire fight and not just the KO. I kept saying that everybody was going to see a true example of preparation meeting opportunity and an explosive ending and I feel like I delivered,” Mendoza told BoxingScene.com. 

“The fight may have been on short notice but I truly felt I was prepared for anything because of how hard I’ve worked and the work I’ve gotten with great fighters all year. That KO felt incredible but it was just the icing on top of the performance that led up to it. The world is finally starting to see who I really am and that’s just a taste of what I’m capable of. I can’t wait to get back in the gym and keep leveling up.”

Mendoza is known as a gym rat and is in his trainer Ismael Salas’ gym on an almost daily basis even when he doesn’t have a fight lined up. 

He said that when another opportunity presents itself, he won’t hesitate to take it. 

“As soon as I can get another great opportunity, I’ll gladly take it. I’m always in the gym so it’s not a question of when I want to fight - it’s a question of when I get that call,” said Mendoza. 

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter