By Francisco Salazar

Any remaining semblance Jorge 'Maromerito' Paez had at being a fringe contender went down the drain late Saturday night.

Paez (40-10-2, 24 knockouts) looked sluggish in dropping a 10 round unanimous decision to Jose Carlos Paz of Argentina at the Gimnasio Universidad in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The fight was even during the first four rounds of the fight. From the fifth round on, it was clear Paz was the more effective fighter, beating Paez to the punch on numerous occasions.

Paez looked slow and slowed down considerably during the second half of the fight. Sensing he could pull out a victory on foreign soil, Paz pressed the fight, letting his hands go on the inside.

Paz (21-6-2, 12 KOs) stunned Paez near the end of the eighth round and dominated the action during the final two rounds.

Scores were 97-93, 97-93, and 98-92 for Paz, who is now 2-2 in his last four bouts.

The 29-year-old Paez has now lost five of his last seven bouts.

In a featherweight bout that was the co-feature, Edivaldo Ortega (25-1-1, 12 KOs) rebounded from first loss as a pro to stop former world titleholder Tomas Rojas.

From the opening bell, Ortega connected repeatedly to the head and body of Rojas, who looked tired by the fifth round. Rojas breathed heavily through his mouth, which is why his mouthpiece hung precariously from his mouth as he backed away from Ortega.

Sensing he was tired, Ortega aggressively walked Rojas (49-16-1, 33 KOs) down, focusing his attack to the body. The amount of punishment Rojas took was evident as his face bruised and he suffered a cut over his left eye.

After the eighth round, Rojas remained on his stool, choosing to not come out for the ninth round.

The card was promoted by Zanfer Promotions.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com 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, RingTV.com, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing