Cristian Mijares’ best days as a prizefighter may be behind him, but he is still desperate to fight for a world title belt one more time.

Now competing as a junior lightweight, Mijares continued his late-career surge, defeating Jesus Arevalo by 10-round unanimous decision Saturday night at the Unidad Deportiva in Campeche, Campeche, Mexico.

Scores were 100-92, 98-92, and 97-93 for Mijares, who is a former two-time world titleholder at 115 pounds.

The southpaw Mijares (58-8-2, 26 knockouts) did his best to keep Arevalo on the outside. However, around the midway point, Arevalo attempted to close the distance and score with right hands to the head. He had success but only in spots.

Sensing he was down on the scorecards, Arevalo (25-2, 15 KOs) went for broke during the final two session, but Mijares was composed and more effective on the inside.

Arevalo, who resides in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, had his four-bout winning streak snapped.

The 36-year-old Mijares, who resides in Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico, has now won his last nine bouts and is currently ranked No. 5 by the WBC.

Undercard

Junior featherweight Francisco Horta (16-3-1, 10 KOs) returned to his birthplace for the first time since turning pro, stopping Edgar Lozano (9-8-2, 5 KOs) in the eighth round.

Horta easily won the first four rounds, but Lozano rallied from the fifth to make the fight close.

With about 40 seconds left in the eighth and final round, Horta landed a series of body punches that hurt Lozano. During the ensuing clinch, both fighters lost their balance and fell to the canvas, but Lozano remained down. As he struggled to get up, referee Samuel Canu counted him out at 2:45.

Lightweight Joseph Aguirre (18-0, 9 KOs) out boxed former fringe contender Juan Jose Martinez (26-5, 18 KOs) for eight rounds to win a unanimous decision.

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