By Jake Donovan

The belt at stake in their fight was as bogus as they come, but it real action for as long as the night lasted before Emanuel Lopez picked up the biggest win of his career to date. The 25-year old scored two knockdowns en route to a 9th round stoppage of Colombia's Carlos Padilla in front of a hometown crowd Saturday evening in Chiapas, Mexico. 

Lopez floored Padilla late in round seven and again in round nine. A sequence of right hand shots left Padilla out on his feet, prompting referee Luis Pabon to step in and intervene at 2:24 of round nine. 

The win grants the 25-year old Lopez (18-4-1, 7KOs) an interim version of a 130 lb. title that marks the first of three fights within a nine-week stretch in which separate versions will be at stake. 

Unbeaten long-reigning titlist Takashi Uchiyama serves as the full champ and will defend his crown May 6 versus Jomthong Chuwatana. A vacant "regular" title fight has Javier Fortuna facing Bryan Vasquez, who lost his version of the belt at the scales after showing up heavy for his knockout win of Sergio 'Yeyo' Thompson. 

Nobody outside of the sanctioning body handing out these titles will recognize Lopez as a champion, but the young junior lightweight delivered a heroic effort on Saturday evening. Padilla was valiant in defeat, falling to 15-2-1 (9KOs) as he loses in his first fight outside of Colombia.

The bout aired live on UniMas in the United States and on TV Azteca in Mexico.

Guadalajara's  Joselyn Arroyo received a controversial split decision to win the WBA interim world flyweight title against Maribel Ramirez after ten intense rounds of combat between the two boxers.  Ramirez (13-8, 5 KOs), with a lot of heart was always very aggressive throwing punches from all angles, and Arroyo (18-0, 7 KOs) was surprised at the crazy, but effective attacks