By Francisco Salazar

ONTARIO, Calif. - Make it 10 wins in a row now for Daniel Roman, even though he had to overcome a strong effort by Ramiro Robles.

Roman stopped Robles in the fifth round before a partisan crowd at the Doubletree Hotel in this Los Angeles suburb.

Roman entered the fight having defeated modest opposition. In his last bout on September 25, Roman decisioned Erik Ruiz over 10 rounds. Robles had lost his previous three bouts in a row, all against unbeaten prospects.

Both Roman and Robles had their moments early on. The southpaw Robles landed regularly with left hands to the head early on in the fight.

As the fight progressed, Roman consistently landed the harder and more effective punches. Roman scored well with left hooks to the body, a pattern that bothered Robles.

Once he got past Roman's guard, Robles was able to land to the body as well, but his punch output began to drop towards the end of the fourth round.

The end came past the halfway point of the fifth round. Roman was able to land a hard left hook that immediately dropped Robles to his knees. Robles spit out his mouthpiece while he laid on the canvas writhing in pain, prompting referee Raul Caiz, Sr. to stop the count at 1:55.

Roman improves to 18-2-1, 6 KOs, while Robles falls to 12-5-1, 6 KOs.

Heavyweight LaRon Mitchell (11-0, 11 KOs) scored a bizarre first round knockout win over Juan Manuel Dominguez. The southpaw Mitchell imposed his will over Dominguez (6-5, 4 KOs) from the opening bell, landing at will. As both fighters clinched after an exchange, Mitchell pushed Dominguez down onto the canvas. Dominguez, who was not visibly hurt, landed face first and struggled to get up. When he refused to engage, referee Eddie Hernandez waved the fight over at 1:18.

Featherweight Fernando Fuentes (7-6, 1 KO) won a hard-fought six round unanimous decision over Jorge Ruiz. Fuentes, who took the fight on less than two weeks' notice. was the busier and more effective fighter during the first two rounds, beating Ruiz to the punch, most notably with lead right hands to the head. Ruiz (9-3, 3 KOs) came on in the middle rounds, scoring well with body shots as Fuentes' punch output dropped. Fuentes seemed to catch a second wind in the final two rounds, getting the better of the exchanges over Ruiz. All three judges scored the bout 59-55 in favor of Fuentes. 

Super middleweight Rudy Puga (7-0, 6 KOs) stopped Alejandro Osuna in the second round. Puga, who is promoted by Roc Nation, dropped Osuna with a right hand to the head in the opening round. Osuna (4-2, 2 KOs) stunned Puga early in the second round with a left hook to the head. Just when Osuna seemed to get the upper hand, he was hurt with a left hook to the body by Puga, and moments later, Puga dropped Osuna with a left hook to the head. Referee Eddie Hernandez counted Osuna out at 1:48. 

Junior middleweight Miguel Trejo stopped Tom Howard in the opening round. Trejo (4-0, 3 KOs) beat Howard to the punch early and often, putting his opponent on the defensive. Trejo hurt Howard (8-7, 4 KOs) with an overhand right to the head, and moments later, dropped Howard with another overhand right to the head. Referee Raul Caiz, Sr. immediately waved the fight over at 2:28. 

In the opening bout of the Thompson Boxing Promotions card, junior featherweight Jhordy Ramirez (2-0, 1 KO) survived a knockdown to win a four round unanimous decision over Juan Carlos Diaz. After a strong start by Ramirez in the opening round, Diaz (0-2) dropped Ramirez in the second round, courtesy of a barrage of punches. Diaz went in for the kill, but Ramirez was able to recover to win the third round, even stunning Diaz with a right hand to the head. Diaz mounted a rally early in the fourth, beating Ramirez to the punch during numerous exchanges, but Ramirez finished strong, which gave him the win by scores of 38-37 from all three judges.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com 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