Bouts at Ballpark: Vargas Jr. stops Cardones in first round

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Fernando Vargas Jr. wanted to put on a show for El Paso, Texas and that’s exactly what he did on Friday night at Southwest University Park.

In the main event of the Bouts at the Ballpark card, Vargas Jr. stopped Juan Carlos Cardones at 2:49 of the first round. Vargas Jr. knocked Cardones down twice before Cardones’ corner threw in the towel, signaling the end of the fight.

With the stoppage win, Vargas Jr. improved to 15-0 with 14 knockouts in his professional boxing career. He also collected the WBC FECARBOX super welterweight title.

In the co-main event, Nathan “El Morenito” Rodriguez collected a fourth round TKO victory over Jose Saant. Rodriguez kept his undefeated record intact as he improved to 15-0 with 10 knockouts.

EL PASO IN THE HOUSE

A pair of fighters on the Bouts at the Ballpark boxing card were representing El Paso, Texas.

Abel Mendoza collected his 41st win of his professional boxing career after he took a unanimous decision win over German Meraz in a six-round lightweight bout. Mendoza remains unbeaten with a 41-0 record.

“I felt like I could have just worked a little more, worked more angles, but, you know, it’s part of boxing and we’re going to grow from this,” Mendoza said. “41-0. I wasn’t able to get the knockout, so I still felt like a loss, you know? But we’re going to get back. We’re going to get stronger and we’re going to get the knockout next time.”

Dominic Barry stopped Idrees Wasi in the fourth and final round of their cruiserweight bout. Wasi’s mouthpiece came out of his mouth several times after intense exchanges with Barry. After the third time Wasi’s mouthpiece came out, the referee called the fight off. That led to Berry staying perfect four fights into his pro boxing career. He’s 4-0 with 4 knockouts.

Hector Morales’ bout was scratched off the card on Thursday.

OTHER RESULTS

Stephonous Pypers def. Ramon Stewart (KO, 1st round, super welterweight)

Jaime Cuesta def. Carlos Padilla (unanimous decision, 4 rounds, lightweight)

Santos Ortega def. Roman Gutierrez Garcia (unanimous decision, 6 rounds, super bantamweight)

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.