Solis, Niño, Miranda Kick Off Mexican Bicentennial Celebrations

Mexico has officially entered “party mode” as bicentennial celebrations begin to commemorate the 200th anniversary of its independence from Spain.

The next two weeks will bring us fights from Mexican stars such as Erik Morales, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Edgar Sosa, Saul Alvarez, Humberto Soto, Omar Chavez, Orlando Salido, and Jorge Arce.

Guadalajara, Mexico — Omar Niño (30-3-2, 12 KOs) kicked off the festivities with a dominating performance against Colombia’s Ronald Barrera (27-8-2, 17 KOs). The reigning WBC Jr. Flyweight champion, Niño, immediately went to work and beat down a game the competitive 3-time former world title challenger.

After losing the first six rounds on the scorecards and being consistently beaten to the punch despite a solid effort on his part, Barrera refused to come out for the seventh.

In the co-feature, Jorge Solis (40-2-2, 29 KOs) triumphed over previously undefeated Colombian, Francisco Cordero (23-1, 15 KO) via TKO 6.

Cordero was talented and definitely game, but sported too crude a skill set to compete with his more seasoned rival.

Solis, not known for his body work, would drop Cordero in the first round with a left to the body and then again in the fourth, with a combination initiated with a body shot. In the fifth, Cordero nearly turned his back on the fight after being tagged with a crisp Solis body shot. The end would come in the following round after a mid-ring barrage of punches convinced the ref that the 24-year old challenger was pretty much done for the evening.

After the bout, Solis called out WBA Super Featherweight champ, Takashi Uchiyama.

Monterrey, Mexico– Jose Luis Miranda (33-5-1, 26 KOs) defended his WBO Flyweight title with a well-received battering of Colombian challenger, Ronald Ramos (29-9-3, 15 KOs).

The fight started horribly for Ramos, who was dropped in the first. But, to his credit, he got up and fought back hard over the next several rounds, turning the fight into a competitive brawl.

But Miranda fought an inspired fight and gradually wore down his challenger with thudding body shots and crisp counters.

Ramos wouldn’t answer the bell for the ninth round.