by Francisco Salazar

Former world titleholder and current junior lightweight contender Jhonny Gonzalez defeated Ramiro Blanco by unanimous decision Saturday night at the Centro de Convenciones in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico.

With the victory, Gonzalez improves to 68-11, 55 knockouts.

Gonzalez was coming off a fifth-round knockout victory over Venezuela’s Rafael Hernandez on May 18. Prior to the Hernandez fight, Gonzalez lost a close majority-decision to former junior bantamweight titleholder Tomas Rojas on Oct. 6, snapping a a streak of eight consecutive victories.

Blanco was game throughout much of the fight, but the 37-year-old Gonzalez was the more-effective fighter, displaying his pedigree by throwing two or three-punch combinations. Gonzalez worked behind a steady jab throughout much of the fight, following them up by straight right hands to the head of Blanco.

Undaunted, Blanco was game, but began to show signs of fatigue by the middle rounds. The 23-year-old Blanco closed the distance between the two, throwing wide punches in hoping to connect, but mostly landed on Gonzalez’s shoulders.

Blanco’s punch output dropped with each round, but was savvy enough to hold anytime Gonzalez mounted an offense. Gonzalez was content to outbox and outpoint Blanco, even though it looked like he could have stopped him had he increased his aggression and punch output.

Scores were 119-109, 119-109, and 118-110 for Gonzalez, who resides in the Mexico City area.

Gonzalez, who made his pro debut 20 years ago on Aug. 14, is currently ranked No. 11 by the WBC.

Blanco, a resident of Managua, Nicaragua, falls to 18-6-3, 10 KOs. He has lost four of his last five bouts.

The fight headlined a Promociones del Pueblo card.

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