By Francisco Salazar

LANCASTER, Calif. - Casey Ramos wanted to display his power and prove he does not just outbox his opponents.

Veteran Hardy Paredes ended up paying the price of Ramos' newfound aggression.

Ramos survived a knockdown to stop Paredes in the fifth round at the Pioneer Events Center on Saturday night.

Ramos improves to 23-0, 6 KOs, while Paredes drops to 18-14, 11 KOs.

It had been over four years since Ramos had scored a knockout win. Rather than box or counter his opponent over eight rounds, Ramos came out aggressively from the opening round.

Ramos punches reddened Paredes' face early on, eventually stunning him midway through the second round. As Ramos followed up, Paredes dropped him with a counter right hand to the top of the head.

Ramos complained the pinch hit him in the back of the head.

During the third round, Ramos dropped Paredes with a right hand to the head. Paredes had turned away from Ramos, allowing the Texas fighter to walk up and drop him with the punch.

As the bout progressed, Ramos slowly began breaking Paredes down. Paredes attempted to keep up with Ramos, but his punch output dropped significantly.

The end came in round five as Ramos pinned Paredes against the ropes. Paredes attempted to fight back, but Ramos connected with another right to the head. Paredes turned to referee Thomas Taylor, shaking his head as if he did not want to continue. Taylor stopped the bout at 58 seconds.

Featherweight Francisco Muro (3-3) won a four round split decision over Oscar Mendoza. Muro was the busier fighter and repeatedly stunned Mendoza (1-1, 1 KO) in the fourth round. One judge scored the bout 39-37 in favor of Mendoza, while the other two judges scored the bout 39-37 and 40-36 in favor of Muro.

In the opening bout of the 'Solo Boxeo Tecate' broadcast, welterweight Arnold Barboza (13-0, 5 KOs) won a six round unanimous decision over John David Charles. Barboza was busier and connected the more-telling blows throughout the fight. The southpaw Charles (9-8 1 ND, 1 KO) was at his best when he initiated exchanges, scoring with lead left hands to the head, but Barboza connected with repeated straight right hands to the head of Charles. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Barboza. 

Welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskas stopped Jeremy Bryan in the third round. Kavaliauskas (14-0, 12 KOs) controlled the tempo of the fight during the first two rounds. He dropped Bryan (17-7, 7 KOs) with a left hook to the head. Bryan beat the count, but referee Zac Young stopped the bout at 1:03 at the request of Bryan's corner. 

Junior lightweight Brian Gallegos (5-0, 4 KOs) stopped John Black (3-4, 2 KOs) in the second round. The southpaw Gallegos hurt Black with a barrage of punches to the head. Gallegos battered Black until referee Jerry Canti waved the fight at 1:03.

In the opening bout of the Top Rank card, junior middleweight Maxim Dadashev knocked out Jason Gavino (3-3, 2 KOs) in the fourth round. Dadashev (3-0, 3 KOs) slowly broke Gavino dow, eventually hurting Gavino with a right to the body. Before Dadashev was able to follow up, referee Thomas Taylor waved the fight over at 1:29.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing