Saul Rodriguez takes Ramsey Luna the distance

Aug

Unbeaten lightweight Saul Rodriguez is not all about knockouts, as indicated early on in his career. He can also outbox his opponents, as indicated on Saturday night.

Ramsey Luna gave a good account of himself but it was not enough as Rodriguez won a clear and thorough, eight-round unanimous decision at the Churchill County Fairgrounds in Fallon, Nev.

Rodriguez improves to 18-0-1, 13 knockouts, while Luna drops to 12-4, 5 KOs.

It was Rodriguez’s second consecutive win by decision after stopping eight consecutive opponents in a row.

Rodriguez, who is trained by Robert Garcia, took the fight to Luna during the first two rounds. He beat Luna to the punch repeatedly with right hands to the head and mixing in an occasional hook to the body.

There were some solid exchanges between the two, as was evident with under a minute remaining in the third round. While Luna found success in the fourth round, he was stunned by a right hand from Rodriguez in the fifth round.

Rodriguez clearly hurt Luna in the seventh round, landing a right hand that almost dropped him near the ropes. To his credit, Luna fought back but Rodriguez’s pedigree was too much for him.

All three judges at ringside scored the bout in favor of Rodriguez, 78-74, 79-73, and 80-72.

“[Luna] did land quite a few punches but I wasn’t hurt,” said Rodriguez, who is promoted by Top Rank Promotions. “He was tough and came to fight.”

Pasillas impresses, stops Tapia after three rounds

Junior featherweight Vic Pasillas dominated Andres Tapia, forcing Tapia to remain on his stool after the third round.

Pasillas, a southpaw from East Los Angeles, improves to 11-0, 4 KOs, while Tapia drops to 8-5-2, 2 KOs.

Ramos wins in comeback

In an off-TV junior welterweight bout, Luis Ramos Jr. won a one-sided, six-round, unanimous decision over Sergio Villanueva.

Ramos, who scored his first win since Sept. of 2012, improves to 24-2, 10 KOs, while Villanueva falls to 28-8-2, 15 KOs.

It was Ramos’ first bout in almost two years but he dominated the action over the game Villanueva, almost dropping him in the third round.

All three ringside judges scored the bout in favor of Ramos, 60-53 twice and 60-54.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since Oct. of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.