Ringside results and photos by Chris Cozzone of Fightnews
From the Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico: Defending his WBC super bantamweight belt, Japan’s Toshiaki Nishioka (34-4-3, 21 KOs) hushed more than 12,000 screaming Mexican fans by knocking out former champ Jhonny Gonzalez (40-7, 34 KOs) in the third round. Gonzalez floored Nishioka with a big right hand late in round one. The two went at it cautiously in the second and, in the third, a huge straight left from the southpaw champion floored Gonzalez. Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the bout at 1:20, when Gonzalez, unable to stand, struggled to get up at eight.
In the co-main, staging his long-awaited return, former champ Rafael Marquez (38-5, 34 KOs) scored a third round knockout of Colombian Jose Francisco Mendoza (21-3-2, 17 KOs). The end came at 2:20 of the third. Marquez showed a bit of rust, but a right hand staggered Mendoza early in the third. Another right hand floored him soon after and Referee Carlos Garcia stopped the fight when Mendoza got up on shaky legs.
In other results: Javier Castro (20-2, 17 KOs) won an eight-round unanimous decision over Guadalupe Rosales (28-5, 16 KOs), scores of 78-74 twice and 77-76; Michael Medina (20-1-2, 16 KOs) TKO’d Bladimir Hernandez (15-2, 13 KOs) in the second round; Victor Zaleta (9-1, 5 KOs) won a ten-round unanimous decision over Javier Romano (8-3-1, 5 KOs); and Juan Carlos Salgado (20-0-1, 14 KOs) kayoed Angel Reyna (9-2-1, 4 KOs) in one. Look for a full ringside report and photo gallery sometime tomorrow.