Flyweight contender David Jimenez secured another victory towards a world title shot.
Jimenez defeated former world titleholder Ganigan Lopez in the seventh round on Friday night at Redondel de Toros de Palmares in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Jimenez, 31, is He was rated No. 6 in The Ring at 112 pounds and improved to 14-1 with 11 KOs.
Despite occasional success from the southpaw López early in the match, Jimenez’s continuous aggression and strength proved too much for López to maintain a consistent attack. As the fight progressed, Jimenez wore down Lopez, landing combinations to his head and body. Lopez’s punching power significantly decreased as each round passed.
In the seventh round, as both fighters exchanged blows, Jimenez landed a powerful right uppercut, sending Lopez to the canvas. Lopez remained seated until the referee counted him out.
Jimenez, who resides in Cartago, Costa Rica, may face Sonny Edwards next, following Edwards’ loss of the IBF world flyweight title to Jesse Rodriguez in a unification bout on Dec. 16 in Glendale, Arizona. said.
“We are not in it (boxing) for a gimmick, but more than that, we work every day for the love of this sport,” Jimenez said in an interview published in the publication La Teja after the fight. I’m training,” he said. “We’re in this sport for discipline and sacrifice, and we’re ready to go 12, 13 or 14 rounds.
“Next up is my fight with Sonny Edwards.”
Edwards is rated No. 2 in The Ring at 112 pounds.
In his previous fight on July 21, Jimenez stopped Rosendo Hugo Guarneros after seven rounds. The victory over Guarneros came about six months after Jimenez lost a unanimous decision to WBA world flyweight titleholder Artem Dalakyan.
In July 2022, Jimenez defeated Ricardo Sandoval, currently rated No. 7 in The Ring, in a hard-fought majority decision.
Lopez, who resides in Mexico City, now holds a record of 38 wins, 13 losses, and 19 KOs. Lopez’s last fight was on February 18, when he defeated journeyman Carlos Bado Bautista by split decision.
The 42-year-old suffered a knockout loss to junior flyweight contender Carlos Cañizares in March 2022.
In March 2016, Lopez won the WBC world junior flyweight title by defeating Yu Kimura. After successfully defending his title once, he lost the title to Kenshiro Terachi in May 2017 by majority decision.
The card on Friday was promoted by Ernesto Sandoval, who oversees Fight Club Promotions.
Francisco A. Salazar has been writing 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. You can contact him at: [email protected]
