Lightweight prospect Ruben Torres remained unbeaten late Friday night, dropping Cristian Mino twice en route to a knockout win in Round 6.

Torres, who resides in Santa Monica, California, improves to 18-0, 15 knockouts.

Despite being eight inches shorter than Torres, Mino was game, holding his own and finding occasional holes in Torres’ defense to land an occasional hook or right hand to the head. Torres remained disciplined in his attack, working behind a consistent jab and connecting with right and left uppercuts to Mino’s head.

Torres would connect with more frequency as the bout progressed. Mino continued to stand and trade in the pocket with Torres but paid a price in doing so, especially in the middle rounds.

Over a minute into Round 6, Torres landed a left-right combination that dropped Mino to the canvas. Mino beat the count but would drop to the canvas in pain from a left hook to the body. Referee Ray Corona stopped the bout at 1:37.

With the win over Mino, Torres has now stopped his last four opponents and eight of his last nine. Friday night was not an easy out for Torres and the 24-year-old acknowledged that Mino meant business coming into the fight.

“He was tough as nails,” said Torres, who is promoted by Thompson Boxing Promotions and won a regional title with the win. “Argentines are tough. I’ve sparred with Argentine fighters. I was not surprised he got up from the first knockdown. He was pretty strong and I knew he was going to get up.

“I could tell from his face he felt the impact of the punches. I just kept touching him until that body shot ended the fight. Winning this belt is a steppingstone towards making my dream come true of winning a world title.”

Mino, who resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, drops to 20-5-2, 17 KOs.

In the co-feature, featherweight Horacio Garcia (35-5-1, 25 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico, won a majority decision over Isaac Zarate.

One judge scored the bout 76-76, while the other two had Garcia comfortably ahead by scores of 80-72 and 79-73.

The fight was a rematch of their clash in September 2018, which Zarate won by split decision. Garcia left no doubt who was the better fighter from the opening round. Garcia had the more consistent and measured attack, walking Zarate down and landing punches to the head and body.

Zarate hung in the pocket during the first half of the fight but his punch output dropped significantly with each passing moment after Round 4. By Round 6, Zarate looked physically and mentally exhausted. It almost looked like Garcia would stop him but Zarate was able to hold on and make it until the final bell.

The southpaw Zarate, who resides in San Pedro, California, drops to 16-6-4, 2 KOs.

In the opening bout of the Thompson Boxing card, heavyweight Oscar Torrez, of nearby Rialto, improved to 8-0, 4 KOs by defeating Mexico’s Daniel Najera (9-7-1, 4 KOs) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Torrez.

Welterweight Louie Lopez, of Corona, California, overcame two knockdowns in the opening round to win by majority decision over Las Vegas’ Cristian Dominguez (11-4, 6 KOs). One judge scored the bout 56-56, while the other two scored the bout 57-55 for Lopez, who improves to 10-1-1, 4 KOs.

In a clash of unbeaten junior featherweights, Sean Brewer, of Las Vegas, improved to 2-0, 1 KO by knocking out Ivan Zarate (3-1, 1 KO), of San Pedro, in the opening round.

Featherweight Japhethlee Llamido, of Norwalk, California, defeated Guadalajara’s Eric Benitez (2-3, 1 KO) by unanimous decision. Scores were 59-54 twice and 58-55 for Llamido, who improves to 6-0, 2 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 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.

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