Irma Sanchez prevailed by unanimous decision over Susana Cruz in their 12-round flyweight bout Saturday evening in Los Cabos, Baja Cruz, Mexico. Scores were 100-90, 97-93 and 96-94 in their main event bout, which aired live on Televisa.

The outcome was disputed. Cruz (5-3, 2KO) proved herself to be a formidable challenger. Cruz surprised Sanchez with her combination punching and aggression, scoring to the head of the defending titlist.

Small in stature, “La Pantera” connected with short punches to the face of Sanchez (21-5-1, 6KO), who sought to neutralize her opponent’s attack. A right hand by Sanchez produced an inflammation inside Cruz’ left eyelid, leaving the challenger to fight the rest of the night with a nearly swollen shut eye.

Sanchez capitalized and surged ahead in the closing rounds to take the unanimous decision.

 

The charismatic “Goofy” Juan Jose Montes demonstrated that superb conditioning in scoring a second round knockout over Jose Luis Rosales of Nayarit, Mexico. Montes (21-2,14KO) scored three knockdowns in the brief affair in forcing the stoppage, which he hopes will serve as a springboard towards contention in the super flyweight division.

Ricardo Alvarez (11-1, 5KO) proved truthful to his “Dinamita” nickname, exploding for a seventh round knockout over game countryman Luis Luna. Alvarez scored two knockdowns and landed a swarm of punches by the time the referee stopped the contest at 0:13 of the seventh round.

OTHER RESULTS

Raúl “Pay” Castañeda worked his way to a unanimous decision over Erik Ramirez in their eight-round strawweight contests.

Maureen “Shea” Carranza and Yara “Japonese” Cabanas fought to a no-contest after just two rounds of action in their scheduled six-round super lightweight contest.