Perez KOs Flores in 12th Round to Retain His California Title

Tomas Perez, sluggish at the outset, came on to score a 12th-round knockout over Jesse Flores Thursday to retain his California super-welterweight title in front of 1,204 at the Irvine Marriott.

Perez opened the 12th round with a flury and stunned Flores with a left jab, then finished him with an overhand right 34 seconds into the round. The knockout was the 13th in Perez’s career. He was in control the entire fight.

Flores tried to stay inside and not allow Perez to use his punching power. Flores butted Perez in the head in the third round, opening a slight cut.

But Perez (20-3) finally got his jab going and opened a major cut over the left eye of Flores (20-4) in the seventh round.

“I was weak with my jab at the start,” Perez said. “That was from not fighting for such a long time. At first, I was boxing his fight but in the later rounds, I was able to step back and punch him more.”

Perez’s strongest round was the 11th when he scored with several combinations. He had Flores in trouble for the final minute and only the bell saved the challenger from a knockout.

Perez last fought Aug. 22 when he won the title in a 12-round decision over Ken Lopez--also at Irvine.