Featherweight Dennis Contreras pulled off an upset win late Friday night, stopping fringe contender Belmar Preciado in Round 5 at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida.

Contreras, Guadalajara, Mexico, improves to 22-10-1, with 20 knockouts.

Preciado was originally scheduled to fight unbeaten contender Michael Conlan on March 17, in New York City, but the fight, along with the entire Top Rank card, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 32-year-old Preciado last fought on December 7 in Cartagena, Colombia, knocking out Jose De Jesus Lopez in Round 3. Preciado entered the Contreras fight on two wins since losing by knockout to former world title challenger Hiroshige Osawa in December 2018.

Contreras was victorious in his previous bout on May 25 of last year, defeating previously-unbeaten Fernando Garcia by majority decision over eight rounds. The victory snapped a five-bout winless streak for Contreras.

From the opening bell of the “Boxeo Telemundo” main event, Contreras was the aggressor, walking Preciado down and putting him on the defensive. Contreras landed hooks and crosses to the head and body, getting the better of their exchanges.

Undaunted, Preciado began initiating exchanges in Round 3, connecting with lead and counter left hooks to the head of Contreras, whose punch output dropped in Round 4 as momentum swung in Preciado’s favor.

“I slowed down during the fourth round,” said Contreras after the fight. “Belmar is a tough fighter. He was able to recover and began to box. I listened to my corner and was able to counter his strategy.”

With over a minute left in Round 5, Contreras pinned Preciado against the ropes, landing a left hook upstairs that staggered Preciado. Contreras followed up and, moments later, dropped Preciado with a right cross to the head. Preciado beat the count but was battered by a barrage of punches from Contreras, prompting referee Frank Santore to step in and stop the bout at 2:13.

“The work was to control the fight, little by little,” said Contreras, who was only fighting for the second time in the United States. “That was the strategy from the first round. We did great work during training camp and it showed with the win. I’m proud of what we did tonight. We trained hard. I would like a rematch against (former WBO junior featherweight titleholder) Emanuel Navarrete, even against any of the world titleholders at 126 pounds.”

Contreras lost to Navarrete by sixth round stoppage in January of 2017.

Preciado, who resides in Barranquilla, Colombia, drops to 20-3-1, with 13 KOs.

Featherweight prospect Orlando Gonzalez, of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, defeated gatekeeper Diuhl Olguin by unanimous decision over eight rounds.

Scores were 79-73 twice and 80-72 in favor of Gonzalez, who improves to 16-0, 10 KOs.

The southpaw Gonzalez was effective from the outside, outboxing and outlanding Olguin throughout much of the fight. Olguin would sneak in an occasional hook or uppercut to the head but Gonzalez, who is promoted by Top Rank, was never hurt and would make adjustments to continue dictating the tempo of the fight.

Olguin, who resides in Guadalajara, Mexico, drops to 14-14-4, with 9 KOs.

In off-TV action, heavyweight prospect Cassius Chaney improved to 19-0, with 13 KOs by stopping Chauncy Welliver (57-13-5, 23 KOs) of Spokane, Washington in Round 4. Chaney, who resides in New London, Connecticut, and is managed by Zachary Levine, has now stopped his last eight opponents.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring 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. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.

THE FOUR KINGS SPECIAL now at

THE RING SHOP (Click Here)