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LOS ANGELES – Julio Cesar Ceja stopped Hugo Ruiz at 2:34 of the fifth round in a scheduled 12-round matchup of junior featherweight contenders on the Leo Santa Cruz-Abner Mares card Saturday at Staples Center.

The fight was mostly tactical until Ruiz (35-3, 30 knockouts) put Ceja (29-1, 27 KOs) down with a left hook late in the third round but Ceja survived. Then, in the fifth, Ceja put Ruiz down with the same punch. Ruiz got up but Ceja pummeled him against the ropes – landed a number of hard punches – and the fight was stopped to protect Ruiz. The official time was 2:34 of the round.

Ceja was behind on all three judges’ scorecards through four rounds at the time of the stoppage.