Former 130-pound titleholder Mendez drops Ramirez four times en route to a lopsided decision victory.
It looked as though former 130-pound titleholder Argenis Mendez (25-5-1, 12 KOs) was going to have an early night as he dropped Eddie Ramirez (17-2, 11 KOs) with 15 seconds left in the second round.
The 140-pound contender survived the late knockout, but Mendez kept his aggression in overdrive and dropped Ramirez again at the 2:30 mark of the third round.
Mendez looked sharp in his first fight at 140 pounds and his first fight in just over a year. Mendez was last seen earning a razor-thin split decision over Ivan Redkach last May.
In the middle rounds Ramirez fought valiantly, putting together combinations but it wasn't enough to stop Mendez from moving forward. Ramirez visited the canvas twice more in the fifth, mostly due to a wicked body attack from Mendez.
Mendez was looking to end the fight in the sixth but found himself on the receiving end of a second assault from Ramirez.
While Ramirez stuck in there and did what looked impossible in the early rounds—seeing the final bell—the scores (99-87, 98-88, and 97-89) were dominantly in favor of Mendez.
Mendez has thrust himself into the mix at 140 pounds and is still a known enough name that he should find another meaningful fight before the end of the year.
Ramirez has now lost in back-to-back fights. He was stopped last October by another veteran former titleholder—Antonio DeMarco.