Gonzalez Remains Undefeated

Junior-welterweight Carlos Gonzalez of Mexico City knew his six-round technical knockout over Lorenzo Smith of Chicago wasn’t pretty, but it kept him undefeated.

For most of the fight, Gonzalez, 34-0, stalked the elusive Smith until he finally caught him with a series of left jabs and hooks to retain his 140-pound World Boxing Organization title Monday night before 4,522 at the Forum.

Gonzalez, 20, opened a deep cut over Smith’s right eye during the fifth round and had him in trouble for most of the sixth round. The fight was stopped before the seventh round when Dr. Robert Karnes decided that Smith was unable to continue.

“I didn’t realize what a difficult style Smith had,” Gonzalez said in trying to explain his slow start. “After the first two rounds, I was able to come on strong.”

The 6-foot-1 Smith gave Gonzalez, 5-9, fits early with an accurate left jab. Smith won the early rounds by utilizing his reach advantage and avoiding wild hooks by Gonzalez.

However, Smith, 20-1-1, started to tire during the fifth round and Gonzalez was able to stop him from running by cutting off the ring. With a more stationary Smith in front of him, Gonzalez effectively connected with hard jab-hook combinations.

“I never thought that the fight was going to be easy,” said Gonzalez, who has 31 knockouts. “But I knew it turned to my favor once I landed a couple of blows.”

Next up for Gonzalez, who knocked out former lightweight champion Jimmy Paul at the Forum in June, might be Rafael Ruelas of Arleta.

Ruelas gained national attention by stopping former featherweight champion Jorge Paez of Mexico on Friday.

In a Mexican super-flyweight title bout, Marco Barrera of Mexico City dominated Esteban Ayala from the opening bell before scoring a knockout during the fourth round. Barrera, 21-0, was impressive in controlling the aggressive Ayala, 15-7-1, with hard left hooks.