By Jake Donovan

Zac Dunn remained unbeaten and within reach of super middleweight title contention following a corner stoppage victory of Argentina's Carlos Jerez after five rounds Friday evening at the Melbourne Pavilion in Flemington, Australia.

The bout was meant as a stay-busy affair for the 25-year old local favorite, who enjoyed significant height, reach and physical strength advantages over the fleshy Jerez. By his own admission, it took a few rounds longer than expected to get rid of the Argentine journeyman, but at least gave Dunn the opportunity to work on a few new things. 

"One thing I learned tonight is never judge a book by its cover," Dunn told C31 Australia, who presented the fight live on air as well as via legal stream on its website. "I thought I'd get him out of there in one. He was still there in the 2nd and 3rd round, so I started picking up with the jab and wearing him down."

Along with the jab, it was a dedicated body attack that helped Dunn secure the win inside the distance. Right hands were landing with great frequency in the opening round, but the height difference disallowed the unbeaten local to score with his weapon of choice.

"I couldn't land the overhand right because he's shorter, so I had to work the jab," Dunn noted. He made the adjustment in round two, using the jab to set up digging right hands and left hooks to Jerez' soft midsection.

There wasn't a minute of the fight where Dunn wasn't in control, although his leaky defense allowed for his opponent to score with few right hand shots. Still, it was a largely dominant - if not always thrilling - performance, with the sense that Jerez would eventually wilt even if not offering much in the way of a competitive effort. 

The corner sensed as much after the end of a brutal round five. The end of the one-minute rest period between rounds was met with Jerez' trainers unwrapping his gloves, having informed the referee and the ringside physician that their kid was done for the evening.

The official time was 3:00 of round five. Jerez - who also faced Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez in his 22nd pro fight (a comparison the announcers harped on throughout the broadcast) - heads home having lost three of his last six starts as he falls to 43-20-3. 

Dunn improves to 22-0 (11KOs) with the win, his third straight back at home after having made his U.S. debut last October. The feat provided a major score, barely coming out ahead in a 10-round split decision win over Derrick Findley. Three consecutive knockout wins have followed for the rangy Aussie boxer, who now sets his sights on bigger game. 

"I look forward to possibly moving forward to a WBC super middleweight title eliminator in my next fight," Dunn suggested afterward, as he is ranked in the Top 10 by the Mexico-based sanctioning body. "Hopefully I get a world title eliminator in my next fight and then get to (defending super middleweight champ) Badou Jack after that."

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2