Otar Eranosyan made it look easy.

Eranosyan overcame a knockdown to drop Roger Gutierrez once en route to a knockout win at the end of the eighth round Wednesday night at the Whitesands (also known as the ProBox TV) Events Center in Plant City, Florida.

The 29-year-old Eranosyan, who is originally from Akhalkalaki, Georgia and now resides in Hollywood, Florida, improved to 14-0, 7 knockouts.

With the victory, Eranosyan became the mandatory challenger for the WBA world junior lightweight title, which is currently held by Hector Garcia of the Dominican Republic.

Eranosyan may have been the betting favorite going into the fight, but he was taking a step up in opposition against Gutierrez, who entered the fight as a former world titleholder who was rated at No. 9 by The Ring at 130 pounds.

Late during the opening round, a left hook to the head momentarily stunned Gutierrez, who was able to gather himself, scoring a knockdown early in the second round. A sweeping right cross to the top of the head dropped Eranosyan to one knee. Eranosyan was not visibly hurt, gathered himself and began to outbox the taller Gutierrez.

As the bout progressed, Eranosyan dissected Gutierrez with accurate punches and combinations to the head and body. Eranosyan mixed his attack, confusing Gutierrez, and eventually putting him on the defensive.

Eranosyan found a rhythm by the fifth round. His punches began taking their toll, as Gutierrez’s punch output significantly dropped.

Things went from bad to worse for Gutierrez in round eight as he was deducted a point fold holding by referee Christopher Young. Towards the end of the round, after pinning Gutierrez against the ropes, a combination to the head and body dropped Gutierrez to one knee. Gutierrez beat the count, and the bell sounded to end the round.

There was confusion in Gutierrez’s corner immediately after the bell sounded as one of Gutierrez appeared to wave a towel, in what looked like an attempt to stop the fight. Another member of Gutierrez’s corner told the inspector assigned to Gutierrez’s corner that they wanted the fight to continue. The chief inspector/supervisor from the Florida State Boxing Commission and the inspector to Gutierrez’s corner argued amongst themselves, further adding to the confusion as a ringside physician checked Gutierrez’s vital signs. Young kept asking questions on whether the fight would continue or not, ultimately waving off the fight.

Official time of the knockout was 2:59 of the eighth round.

It was an impressive win for Eranosyan, who was coming off a decision win over Edy Valencia on May 17. Eranosyan is promoted by Alex Vaysfeld and managed by Svyatoslav Mangushev.

Gutierrez, who resides in Maracaibo, Venezuela, falls to 27-5-1, 21 KOs. The 28-year-old has now lost two of last three fights, with the other loss coming to Hector Garcia on August 20 of last year.

In the co-feature, Petros Ananyan rallied to knock out hard-hitting Cristian Baez in the seventh round.

Ananyan, who is originally from Apovyan, Armenia and now resides in Los Angeles, improved to 18-3-2, 9 KOs.

Fighting at a catchweight of 144 pounds, it was Baez who was the more-effective fighter from the opening round. Baez connected with lead and counter left hands, particularly to the body. As the fight progressed, Ananyan remained in the pocket to score, but had to deal with Baez’s more accurate punches that continued to connect to the body.

Midway through the seventh round, a sweeping left hook to the head staggered Baez, who staggered across the ring. Ananyan followed up with a barrage of punches that dropped Baez to the canvas. Referee Michael DeJesus counted Baez out at 1:41.

At the time of the stoppage, Baez was up on all three judges’ scorecards, 67-65, 67-65, and 68-64 for Baez.

The 34-year-old Ananyan has now won four of his last five bouts, with the only loss coming at the hands of Subriel Matias on January 22 of last year.

Baez, who is originally from San Juan de Los Morros, Venezuela, falls to 19-3, 17 KOs.

In the opening bout of the ProBox TV card, junior lightweights Tristan Gallichan (1-0-1, 1 KO) of Winter Haven, Florida and Ryan Schwartzburg fought to a majority decision draw. One judge scored the bout 40-36 for Gallichan, while the other two judges scored the bout 38-38.

Schwartzberg, who resides in Dania, Florida, goes to 3-11-3, 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 at [email protected]

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