Miguel Marriaga stops Eduardo Montoya in three

Miguel Marriaga

Dec

Featherweight contender Miguel Marriaga returned to action late Friday night, knocking Eduardo Montoya out in the third round at the Coliseo Bernardo Caraballo in the former’s hometown of Cartagena, Colombia.

With the win, Marriaga improves to 25-1 (with 20 knockouts). Montoya falls to 19-6-1 (13 KOs).

Marriaga dropped the fighter from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico three times during the second round. Over a minute into the third round, Marriaga stunned Montoya with a right uppercut. Moments later, Marriaga pinned Montoya against the ropes, prompting referee Julio Cesar Alvarado to stop the fight at 1:26.

“We prepared very well and it showed tonight,” Marriaga said in a post-fight interview with a Colombian network. “I was prepared to go all 12 rounds. I was satisfied with what I was able to do.”

Marriaga, who has won his last five bouts, became the mandatory challenger to Oscar Valdez’s WBO title on Aug. 27, when he stopped Guy Robb in the sixth round.

A potential fight could be made between the two for 2017 as both are promoted by Top Rank Promotions.

In an upset, junior lightweight Carlos Ruiz (15-3-1, 5 KOs), who is ranked No. 7 by the WBO, lost a 10-round split decision to Deiner Berrio (19-0-1, 11 KOs).

Junior featherweight Belmar Preciado (15-1-1, 10 KOs), of Colombia, won a 10-round unanimous decision over Mexico’s Martin Casillas (15-10-1, 9 KOs).

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

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