Former IBF junior flyweight titleholder Felix Alvarado stopped Luis Cerrito Hernandez in the fourth round late Saturday night at the Polideportivo Alexis Arguello in his hometown of Managua, Nicaragua.

Alvarado improves to 38-2, 33 knockouts. 

Now campaigning as a flyweight, Alvarado was the more-effective fighter against Hernandez from the opening bell.

The 33-year-old increased his punch volume and aggression in the fourth round, putting Hernandez on the defensive and backing him up against the ropes. About a minute into the round, a right hand to the head stunned Hernandez. Alvarado followed up with a barrage of punches, dropping Hernandez to the canvas. Referee Onofre Ramirez immediately stopped the bout at 1:13. 

Alvarado, who is the twin brother of Rene Alvarado, won the vacant IBF title in October 2018, stopping Randy Petalcorin in the seventh round. He would make two successful defenses of the IBF title. He has now won his last 20 fights, 18 by knockout, since losing back-to-back fights to Kazuto Ioka and Juan Carlos Reveco, respectively in 2013 and 2014. Both fights were for the WBA junior flyweight title. 

Hernandez, who resides in Queretaro, Mexico, falls to 10-6-1, 6 KOs. He has lost four of his last six bouts.

Also on the card that was promoted by Pablo Osuna, unbeaten junior bantamweight Winston Guerrero, who also resides in Managua, dropped Misael Gracia Acevedo once en route to a one-sided decision victory. 

All three judges scored the bout 80-71 in favor of Guerrero, who improves to 17-0, 11 knockouts. 

The 21-year-old Guerrero had his back against the ropes when he landed a counter left hook to the chin that dropped Gracia flat on his back in the second round. Gracia continued to fight on, but Guerrero utilized his more-superior skill set to outbox Gracia throughout the rest of the fight. 

Both Alvarado and Guerrero are managed by William Ramirez. 

Gracia, who resides in Tijuana, Mexico, drops to 15-4-2, 10 KOs. The 25-year-old has lost four of his last five bouts.

In a clash of Nicaragua-based junior welterweights, Bryan Jimenez improved to 9-0, 6 KOs by defeating Israel Lopez (9-2 1 NC, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision. Scores were 60-54, 59-55, and 58-56 for Jimenez. 

In flyweight action, Josue Morales (24-12-4, 8 KOs) of Houston, Texas stopped Mexico City’s Gerardo Verde Moreno at 10 seconds of the third round. Morales has now won his last 13 fights, with nine of those wins taking place last year.

Morales drops to 19-8-1, 14 KOs and has lost four of his last six bouts.

The card aired live throughout Nicaragua on Canal 6. 

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