Richard Torrez Jr.’s left-handed power-punching is repetitive and damaging at its best — and his heavyweight opponent Brandon Moore could do nothing to stop that power as it went fully unleashed Saturday night at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
Seconds after the 2020 Olympic silver medalist sent Moore reeling backward with a crushing blow in the fifth round, Torrez knocked him down with another shot.
Referee Tom Taylor let Moore collect his lost mouthpiece during another barrage, but it was only a brief reprieve. A final Torrez attack prompted Moore’s corner to throw in the towel.
Torrez, 10-0 (10 KOs), recorded his latest knockout one minute and 39 seconds into the fifth, leaving Moore, 14-1 (8 KOs), with his first loss. The fight was part of a Top Rank card headlined by Mexico’s three-division titleholder Emanuel Navarrete’s pursuit of the vacant WBO lightweight belt versus Ukraine’s Denys Berinchyk.
Also on the undercard:
Top Rank gave debuting hometown lightweight Jonny Mansour, 1-0 (0 KOs) of nearby La Mesa a four-round spot, and he flashed quick hands and the ability to slip punches while being light on his toes. Mansour posted a unanimous decision victory by three 40-36 scores over Anel Dudo, 3-6 (1 KO).
Emiliano Fernando Vargas, 10-0 (8 KOs), son of the Oxnard legend Fernando Vargas, battered Angel Varela, 10-3 (7 KOs), with both hands throughout their bout, clinching a sixth-round technical knockout when referee Ray Corona halted the punishment at 1:01 of the sixth and final round.
Top Rank’s enthusiasm over its 140-pound prospect Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia continued to heighten with his Saturday showing, as he improved to 13-0 (10 KOs) with a clean sweep – 80-72 on all three scorecards – against Wilfredo Flores, 10-3-1 (5 KOs).
Junior lightweight Jonathan Lopez improved to 15-0 (11 KOs) with his eighth-round TKO of Edgar Ortega, 14-3-2 (7 KOs).The time of stoppage was 2:39. Lopez, fighting on the card thanks to options Top Rank has on him, isn’t yet signed by the company, but another convincing triumph Saturday improved his chance of joining Garcia in Bob Arum’s stable.
To open the card, welterweight Art Barrera Jr., 5-0 (4 KOs), was forced to go the distance for the first time, still cruising to victory over Levy Garcia Benitez, 3-2-1 (2 KOs), by three unanimous decision scores of 40-35.
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