Artemio Reyes must have a fascination with the number two. 

Prior to his 10-round bout against Abraham Alvarez on Friday night, Reyes had scored eight second-round knockout victories.

Alvarez ended up being knockout victim number nine of fighters Reyes has stopped in the second round.

Reyes dropped Alvarez three times en route to a second-round stoppage victory before a partisan crowd at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, Calif. 

The bout headlined a five-bout “Path to Glory” card, presented by Thompson Boxing Promotions.

Since being stopped in the first round by Alan Sanchez in April 2012, Reyes had won six straight, the last five by knockouts. While the opposition may have been less than modest, six straight wins is six straight wins.

Reyes began to impose his will and power on Alvarez after the first minute of the opening round.

The beginning of the end came for Alvarez moments into the second round. A left-right combination to the head of Alvarez dropped him to the canvas. He got up and tried to fight back, but was dropped by a counter right hand to the head.

After getting up a second time, Alvarez went into a shell, trying to land anything to keep Reyes at bay. During an exchange, Reyes landed a right hand after Alvarez threw a jab, dropping him a third time to the canvas. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and waved the fight over at 2:01.

Reyes, from nearby Colton, goes to 22-2, 18 knockouts. Alvarez, from Rosario, Sinaloa, Mexico, falls to 16-5-1, 7 KOs. He has lost his last five bouts. 

Roman wins in a war

In a battle of Southern California junior featherweights, Daniel Roman won a hard-fought and one-sided eight-round unanimous decision over Jonathan Arrellano.

The action was mostly fought in the center of the ring, as Roman took more of the initiative during the first half of the fight. He was rewarded by landing multiple combinations to the head, with some of those punches snapping Arrellano's head back.

Arrellano attempted to counter with hooks to the head. While some of those punches landed, Roman was able to capitalize on Arrellano leaving himself to be countered.

The ebb and flow continued into the second half of the fight. Arrellano began to initiate exchanges, where he was able to land more, especially to the body of Roman in an attempt to slow him down. A counter right hand by Roman momentarily wobbled Arrellano in the fifth round, but Arrellano was able to recover and get through the round.

As the bout progress, both fighters stood in the pocket, landing vicious combinations to the head and body. But it was Roman who landed the harder punches, at times stopping Arrellano in his tracks. The punches Roman landed began to take their toll on Arrellano, as he slowed down considerably, especially in the eighth round. 

Midway through the round, Roman landed a well-timed right uppercut to the head, dropping Arrellano to the canvas. Arrellano got up, but the fight was close to getting stopped. However, Arrellano was able to hang in there. Roman punctuated the victory seconds before the end of the round, dropping Arrellano with a counter right. Arrellano was able to get up and final bell sounded. 

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Roman, 80-70, 80-70, and 79-71.

Roman, from Los Angeles, improves to 10-2-1, 4 KOs, while Arrellano, from Ontario, drops to 14-4-2, 3 KOs.

In other bouts:

– Junior welterweight Giovani Santillan (13-0, 7 KOs) won a one-sided eight-round unanimous decision over Joaquin Chavez (6-14-3, 2 KOs). Santillan scored a knockdown in the first round. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Santillan, 79-72, 78-73, and 77-74. 

– In a minor upset on paper, junior lightweight Cesar Valenzuela (8-3-1, 3 KOs) won a six-round unanimous decision over Erick Ituarte (7-1-1, 1 KO). All three judges scored the bout in favor of Valenzuela, 58-56, 58-56, and 59-55. 

– Junior welterweights Ken Alvarez (6-0-2, 3 KOs) and Joshua Marks (8-5-1, 8 KOs) fought to a six-round majority draw. Both fighters went down once in the third round. One judge scored the bout 59-55 in favor of Marks, while the other two judges scored the bout 57-57.

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