Pablo Cesar Cano can still be a major force at 140 pounds.

Cano dropped Zachary Ochoa once en route to a knockout victory Wednesday night at the Whitesands (also known as the ProBox TV) Events Center in Plant City, Florida.

The 34-year-old Cano, who resides in Atizapan de Zaragoza, Mexico, improved to 35-8-1, 25 knockouts.

From the opening bell, both fighters had their moments. Cano landed the more-telling punches as Ochoa looked for openings to counter the head of Cano.

About a minute into round two, a barrage of punches stunned Ochoa. Cano pinned Ochoa against the ropes, unleashing a barrage of punches, including vicious left hook to the head and right hands to the body. As Cano tired towards the end of the round, Ochoa landed a series of punches until the bell sounded to end the round.

Past the one-minute mark in round three, Ochoa was stunned by a left hook to the head. Ochoa was able to weather the storm as Cano unleashed another series of combinations. As the pace slowed during round four, Ochoa found some success by working behind a jab and throwing and landing right hands to the head.

About midway through the round five, Ochoa momentarily stunned Cano with a right cross to the head. Ochoa continued walking him down, taking the initiative as Cano looked to counter with left hooks to the head.

At the midway point of round six, Cano dropped Ochoa with left-right combination to the head. Ochoa was able to beat the count, but Cano backed Ochoa against the rope, unleashing a barrage of punches to the head. Ochoa did not tie up or fight back, forcing referee Michael De Jesus to step in and stop the fight at 1:57.

Cano was coming off a third round knockout win over Oscar Arenas Maya in his previous fight on October 29 of last year. Cano has won his last five of his last six fights since his loss to Marcelino Lopez in October 2017.

The 30-year-old Ochoa, who resides in Brooklyn, New York, falls to 21-4, 7 KOs. Ochoa has now lost his last three fights.

In the co-feature between unbeaten lightweights, Jose Nuñez of Panama City, Panama defeated Omar Salcido by unanimous decision.

Scores were 95-90, 98-87, and 98-89 for Nunez, who goes to 16-0-2, 7 KOs.

The southpaw Nuñez landed lead and counter left hands to the head of Salcido throughout most of the fight. Salcido was the aggressor, but would overcommit, smothering himself, or would hit Nuñez flush with punches.

Salcido was finally able to land with more frequency during the second half of the fight. During round seven, a counter right hook to the head dropped Salcido to the canvas. Salcido was able to beat the count, overcame a barrage of punches, and was able to score a knockdown of Nuñez later in the round. Replays showed a jab from Salcido grazed Nuñez, who also looked as though he may have lost his balance.

Wednesday was Nuñez’s first legitimate fight as a lightweight after mostly fighting at 126 and 130 pounds. Nuñez is promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz.

Salcido, who is originally from Hermosillo, Mexico and now resides in Lakeside, California, falls to 17-1, 12 KOs.

Lightweight Jose Arellano, who is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico and now resides in Aurora, Mexico, defeated Oscar Alvarez by unanimous decision.

Scores were 77-75, 78-74, and 79-73 for Arellano, who improved to 11-1, 6 KOs.

The taller Alvarez did find success connecting with right hands and uppercuts to the head of Arellano, particularly during the middle rounds. Alvarez did continue landing, but Arellano found a lot of success during the second half of the fight, varying his offense to outbox Alvarez.

The 20-year-old Alvarez, who resides in Hermosillo, Mexico, falls to 9-2, 8 KOs.

In the opening bout of the ProBox TV card, lightweight Chann Thonson of Toronto, Canada dropped Willie Shaw once en route to a unanimous decision victory. Scores were 80-71, 80-71, and 78-73 for Thonson, who improved to 9-0, 8 KOs.

Thonson dropped Shaw during the second round. Thonson connected with a right hand, but replays showed Shaw lost his balance.

Both had their moments midway during the fight, including Shaw, who momentarily staggered Thonson with a left hook to the head in round five. Thonson was able to recover and was the more-effective fighter the rest of the fight.

Shaw, who resides in Vallejo, California, falls to 14-6, 10 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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