Damian Sosa was hoping for a breakthrough 2023 on his way to becoming a legit contender at 154 pounds. Opponent Ivan Alvarez had different plans. 

Alvarez, a gatekeeper from Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, dropped Sosa three times en route to a hard-fought unanimous decision late Saturday night at the Auditorio Municipal in Sosa’s hometown of Tijuana, Mexico.

Scores were 94-93, 94-93, and 95-92 for Alvarez, who improves to 32-14-4, 21 knockouts.

Within 20 seconds of the opening bell, Alvarez dropped Sosa with a sweeping, counter left hook to the face. After getting dropped flat onto his back, Sosa beat the count, but went down again about a minute later from a barrage of punches to the head. Sosa again beat the count, but went down from a four-punch combination near the end of the first round.

The three knockdowns seemed to discombobulate Sosa during the next round or two, but finally let his hands go with more aggression during the fourth round. Sosa initiated exchanges and put Alvarez on the defensive, but Alvarez was able to effectively counter Sosa’s offense.

Sosa was the more-effective fighter throughout much of the second half of the fight. Both fighters produced solid exchanges throughout much of the fight, delighting the boisterous crowd, but the three knockdowns Sosa suffered and the inability to get going right away was Sosa’s downfall.

Alvarez entered the Sosa winless in his previous six fights, with three of those fights either split-decision or technical draws. The 35-year-old was stopped by unbeaten Alessandro Riguccini and lost by decision to Pedro Campa in recent fights, but did have a knockout win over Jorge Paez, Jr.

Sosa falls to 22-2, 11 KOs. The 26-year-old was coming off a decision win over Juan Ruiz in his previous fight on December 4, a fight in which he was knocked down in the opening round. He did have recent wins over Ronald Cruz and Clay Collard.

In the co-feature, fringe junior featherweight contender Ricardo Espinoza fought to a No Contest after an accidental clash of heads opened a cut over the left eye of opponent Miguel Gonzalez (13-6 1 NC, 9 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico.

Espinoza, who also resides in Tijuana, goes to 28-4 1 NC, 23 KOs. He entered the bout having won his previous three bouts since a unanimous decision loss to Danny Roman in May 2021.

In junior lightweight action, Jose Luis Vazquez, a 20-year-old from Tlaquepaque, Mexico, defeated Tijuana’s Jesus Lugo Garcia (8-5, 6 KOs) by majority decision.

One judge scored the bout 57-57, while the other two judges scored the bout 59-55 and 58-56 for Vazquez, who improves to 11-0, 3 KOs.

In a clash of super middleweights who reside in Tijuana, Marcos Vazquez improved to 20-0-1, 10 KOs, defeating Eric Robles (9-2, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision. Scores were 58-56, 58-56, and 59-55 for Vazquez.

Lightweight Wade Jones of Stockton, California defeated Omar Olvera Contreras (3-5-2, 1 KO) by majority decision. Jones improves to 10-1, 7 KOs.

The card was promoted by Toscano Boxing Promotions and streamed live on its YouTube page. 

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