By Cliff Rold

After a memorable war with Nonito Donaire last year was followed with a loss, it was wondered if Mexico’s Cesar Juarez might already have had his best day. Saturday night at the San Mateo Event Center in San Mateo, California, Juarez proved otherwise. Rising off the deck in the first, the 24-year old Jr. featherweight (18-5, 14 KO), 121 ¼, of Mexico City, Mexico, handed 22-year old Albert Pagara (26-1, 18 KO), 121 ¼, of Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines, with an eighth-round stoppage in a fight scheduled for twelve.  

The referee was Ed Corrientes.

Pagara, his hair dyed banana yellow, found his golden locks flying in the first as he and Juarez traded haymakers in the first minute. Juarez kept pressing as Pagara tried to keep space for short countering opportunities. It worked, catching Juarez with a pinpoint left hook just before the round ended to send Juarez to the floor. Juarez beat the count and made it to the corner before any more damaged could be leveled.

As the rounds ticked by, the fight kept a consistent form. Juarez came forward, landing what he could, willing to miss and often wide open for counters. Pagara would land some of the counters he needed, blasting Juarez with left hooks and rights hands of a singular variety. A few times he stopped the Mexican in his tracks but he rarely followed up. Juarez kept chipping away, doing his best work when he could get Pagara near the ropes.

In the seventh the ropes became a dangerous place. Backing Pagara up, Juarez unleashed a two-fisted assault that had Pagara out of sorts. The Filipino used his legs and got back to mid-ring but couldn’t stay there. Juarez pinned him down again and found the head of Pagara repeatedly. Pagara was on wobbly legs as he headed to the corner at the bell. Smiling in the corner before the eighth, Pagara rose slowly.

His corner seemed to be helping him get his balance and he sort of stumbled out of the corner without so much as an eye on Juarez. Pagara walked right into a flush four punch combination and was deposited right back in the corner he’d just left. The referee jumped in to halt the action immediately. Pagara, almost a minute after the fight, was still trying to get his bearings, down on all fours with his eyes glazed over. The official time of the stoppage was :15 seconds of round eight.

Pagara entered the bout rated tenth by the WBC, fourth by the IBF, and second by the WBO at 122 lbs. Juarez was unrated.

The swing bout featured an undefeated battler who got more than he bargained for.

22-year old Jr. lightweight Pedro Duran (14-0-1, 11 KO), 131 ½, of Paramount, California, couldn’t keep spirited 34-year old Edgar Gabejan (27-33-7, 9 KO), 132, of Binangonan, Rizal, Philippines, off of him in a messy affair. Gabejan got a lot of the crowd behind him as he forced the fight but Duran landed plenty of punches from range. The verdict was announced a split draw at 78-74 for Gabejan, 77-75 for Duran, and an even 76-76,

In the televised opener, 27-year old older brother and welterweight Jason Pagara (39-2, 24 KO), 146, of Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines, made easy work of 28-year old trial horse Abraham Alvarez (21-10-1, 10 KO), 147, of El Rosario, Sonora, Mexico, scoring a third round stoppage in a scheduled eight-round affair. Pagara was the aggressor throughout, quicker and more physical than the overmatched Alvarez. A big right hand sent Alvarez to the deck in the third and, while he beat the count, he was in no shape to continue as the fight was halted at :55 of round three. All ten of Alvarez’s losses have come by knockout. It was Pagara’s twelfth straight win dating to 2011. The referee was Michael Margado.

The card was televised in the US on BeIn Espanol, Promoted by Zanfer.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com