By: Christopher Roche

WBO Superbantamweight champ Daniel Ponce de Leon systematically decimated Reynaldo Lopez tonight at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California, in a bout televised on Telefutura’s “Solo Boxeo Tecate”.

Ponce de Leon, who was coming off of an impressive first round knockout over Rey Bautista, walked Lopez down for the first four rounds and displayed a stiff right jab. The 27 year-old Ponce de Leon, of Cuauhtemoc, CHH, Mexico, followed many of his jabs with hard left hands, as he flashed power from his southpaw stance.

Lopez, 33, fought gamely, but he could not overcome the power of Ponce de Leon. In the fourth round, Lopez bent down into a hard uppercut, and in the fifth, Ponce de Leon found a permanent home for his left, and he landed three hard shots that hurt Lopez. Finally, Ponce de Leon landed the clincher, a textbook left hand to the temple, and Lopez went to sleep. The referee immediately stopped the bout as Lopez crashed onto his back, near the end of the round.

Ponce de Leon improved to 33-1, 30 KO’s and Lopez fell to 28-5-2, 19 KO’s. This was a nontitle bout.