Heriberto Flores made his presence known in the welterweight division last Saturday night.

Flores dropped Ve Shawn Owens once en route to a knockout win in the eighth round at the Arena Ring Central in Mexico City. Flores, who resides in the boxing hotbed of Guadalajara, Mexico, improved to 11-0 with 10 knockouts.

Owens was Flores’ most accomplished opponent to date. There was concern about Owens’ pedigree and level of opposition being too much for Flores. But promoter Giber Lopez had all the confidence that Flores would come out victorious at the expense of Owens.

“I’ve been with Heriberto since when he turned pro,” Lopez told The Ring Monday night. “He has developed very well. We saw the opportunity was there for him to win against Owens. We knew he was going to win by knockout.

“The plan is for me to meet with (WBC president) Mauricio Sulaiman and see if Heriberto has the opportunity to fight for the WBC Youth title (Note: the title is part of a list of belts not recognized by The Ring). We are looking at a return for him in February. I believe he can challenge for a world title in 2025.”

Towards the end of the opening round, Flores dropped Owens with a hook to the head. Owens was able to beat the count.Despite having a height and reach advantage, Flores was able to get on the inside and connect to the body and head of Owens, who was game, but would get hit often by counter hooks and crosses.

Owens utilized decent lateral movement to outbox Flores during the middle rounds. The rally was short-lived, as Flores increased his punch output, putting Owens on the defensive and connecting more with lead and counter right hands to the head.

Towards the end of the eighth round, Flores landed a left hook to the head, followed by a right hand moments later. He followed up with a barrage of punches, forcing referee Luis Lopez to halt the contest at 2:59. Owens protested the stoppage, claiming the bell had sounded before Lopez stepped in.

The 22-year-old Flores had fought his previous fight on July 21, stopping Eduardo Sanchez Ramirez in the seventh round in a clash between unbeaten prospects.

Owens (14-4, 12 KOs), who resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was coming off a unanimous decision win over former IBF world mandatory challenger Kudratillo Abdukakhorov on February 25. In his previous fight in December 2021, Owens lost to Alberto Puello by decision.

The 32-year-old lost back-to-back fights to Sebastian Fundora and Chordale Booker in 2018.

In the co-feature, Jorge Ascanio of San Luis Potosi, Mexico overcame a knockdown to defeat Kevin Herrera by unanimous decision. Scores were 76-75, 76-75, and 76-74 for Ascanio, who improved to 10-1-1, 6 KOs.

The clash between Ascanio and Herrera was all action, with exchanges between the two. Ascanio was the busier and more effective fighter, throwing and connecting with two and three-punch combinations early on, but Herrera was effective at outboxing Ascanio by the fifth round.

Herrera dropped Ascanio with a left hook to the body during the seventh round. After Ascanio beat the count, Herrera did not follow up, allowing Ascanio to recover. Both fighters had their moments, connecting hooks and crosses until the final bell sounded.

Herrera, from Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico, falls to 7-3 with 2 KOs.

In 115-pound action, Emiliano Toscano of Mexico improved to 9-0-1 (7 KOs) by scoring a one-punch knockout victory over Christopher Rodriguez (4-3, 3 KOs). A left hook to the head dropped Rodriguez to the canvas, prompting referee Gabriel Rico to immediately stop the fight at 2:14.

Junior flyweight Juan Carlos Olmos, who resides in the Mexico City area, defeated Colombia’s Jose Gomez Gonzalez (2-1, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Olmos, who improved to 2-0.

Welterweight Mario David Arreola of Mexico City dropped Alexis Gomez twice en route to a first round knockout victory, improving to 3-1, 3 KOs. Time of the knockout was 1:01.

Gomez, who is originally from Acapulco, Mexico and now resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, falls to 4-2, 1 KO.

In junior middleweight action, 18-year-old Ulises Cisneros improved to 5-0 with 5 KOs, knocking out Israel Resendiz (1-4, 1 KO) at 2:35 of the fourth round.

The card aired live in Mexico and Latin America on Combate Space and was promoted by Producciones Deportivas, which is run by longtime promoter Ricardo Maldonado.

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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