Another fight, another early night for Ernesto ‘Tito’ Mercado.

The junior welterweight remained unbeaten after a fourth-round stoppage of Deiner Berrio Friday night at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston, Texas. The one-sided affair ended when Berrio refused to come out of his corner at the start of the fourth round.

Mercado—who hails from the Los Angeles suburb of Pomona—hurt Berrio midway through the opening round. A left hook to the body caused Berrio to wince in pain and back away from Mercado.

For the duration of the fight, Mercado stalked Berrio, inactive since 2021 and mostly looked to counter with single right crosses. Colombia’s Berrio—who resides in L.A.—rarely engaged in exchanges. He instead chose to cover up with his back against the ropes or in a corner.

In round three, a right cross to the head momentarily stunned the 33-year-old Berrio. Mercado continued to walk Berrio down but was unable to send him to the canvas.

Berrio remained on his stool to start round four, with no reason given as to why he was not able to continue. Referee Alejandro Leon waved the fight off at 10 seconds into the fourth round.

Mercado, 22, improved to 15-0, with 14 knockouts. He last fought on February 24 in Tijuana, Mexico, when he knocked Cristian Bielma out in the second round. Mercado fought five times, which included knockout wins over veterans Henry ‘Hank’ Lundy and Jeremia Nakathila.

Berrio fell to 22-5-1, 14 KOs and has now lost five of his last seven fights.

UNDERCARD RESULTS

Atlanta’s Carlos Jackson scored a fifth-round stoppage over Alexis Bastar in a foul-filled co-feature.

Early in round three, Jackson dropped Cancun’s Bastar to the canvas. Replays showed the punch landed slightly below the beltline. Referee James Green issued an eight-count anyway, which prompted Bastar to rise from the deck and beat the count.

Jackson was subsequently docked two points for separate low blows later in the round.

Slightly cleaner action prevailed in round four. Jackson and Bastar were in a clench before they were separated by the referee. A right hand by Jackson during the sequence landed upstairs to produce the bout’s second knockdown. Bastar beat the count and made it out of the round.

However, Bastar (18-1-3, 9 KOs) remained on his stool to start round five, citing an injured left hand. The official time of the stoppage was 10 seconds of the fifth round.

Lightweight Oscar Alan Perez improved to 9-0-2, 6 KOs, defeating game Jeremiah Lewis Watts (3-2, 1 KO) of Toledo, Ohio. Scores were 57-56, 58-55, and 59-54 for the locally-based Perez, who dropped Watts in the third round with a left to the body.

In the opening bout of the Red Owl Boxing card, lightweight Adrian Serrano of Salinas, California defeated Luis Gerardo (1-3) of Eagle Pass, Texas by majority decision. One judge scored the bout 38-38, while the other two judges scored the bout 39-37 and 40-36 for Serrano (3-0-1, 0 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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