By Cliff Rold

One week before siblings Saul Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. face off in one of the biggest US fights of the year, Jr. middleweights Omar Chavez and Ramon Alvarez resumed their own personal feud on Saturday night at the Gimnasio Manuel Bernardo Aguirre in Chihuahua, Mexico.

It was a shocking turn of fortune as the 27-year old Chavez (36-3-1, 24 KO), 156, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, avenged a 2014 decision loss to 30-year old Ramon Alvarez (24-6-2, 16 KO), 156, of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, with a second round stoppage.

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The referee was Ricardo Monjares.

Chavez entered having won three straight since the loss to Alvarez and started the fight working off the back foot. Alvarez, working behind the jab, looked to pick up where he left off the first time, outboxing and outworking the younger man. A massive left from Chavez stopped Alvarez in his tracks late in the first and previewed the change in fortune to come.

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A left hook got Alvarez’s attention in the first minute of the second and a right hand came behind it. Alvarez fired back but Chavez landed another left to the temple. A right on the ropes and then another left had Alvarez firing back defensively as Chavez came on. A storm of punches sent Alvarez reeling along the ropes defenseless, punctuated by two hard lefts that prompted the referee to step in and stop the fight at 2:05 of the round two.

It was more than enough fireworks for one night. Their brothers take center stage in seven days.

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The card was televised in the US on BeIn Espanol, promoted by Zanfer.

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Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com