Costa Mesa’s Zavala Overwhelms Soto in Unanimous Decision

Rudy Zavala wanted to get some work in his super-bantamweight bout Thursday at the Irvine Marriott, but not quite as much as he got.

Zavala, who is ranked fourth in the world by the World Boxing Council, won a one-sided bout over Juan Soto of Mexico.

Zavala (19-1-1) dominated on the cards, winning 99-90, 100-89, and 100-91.

“It was pretty much a shutout,” said Zavala’s manager Herb Stone. “We wanted to work on defense tonight.”

Zavala, from Costa Mesa, said he wasn’t too upset that the bout went the distance because it gave him a chance to work on his stamina. But it just wasn’t what he had planned.

Zavala had never seen Soto before the bout and knew little about him other than his 12-1 record.

Soto surprised Zavala with a sharp right about 20 seconds into the bout, but Zavala didn’t appear hurt. Zavala was a little defensive the rest of the first round but went on the offensive after that.

“He hit me a few times pretty good but not enough to hurt me,” Zavala said. “I had planned to knock him out in the eighth round but I couldn’t because he just kept moving.”

Zavala’s best chance for a knockdown came in the eighth round when he stunned Soto with several combinations.

Soto was bleeding from the nose halfway though the round but stayed out of the way enough to avoid the knockout.

Zavala’s sharp right opened a deep cut over Soto’s left eye in the ninth, and Soto spent the final two rounds covering up.

“Give (Soto) credit,” Stone said. “We hit him with a lot of punches but he took them.”

On the undercard:

Rickey Ramirez of Santa Ana continued his impressive start with a first-round knockout of Edgar Soto in a lightweight bout.

Ramirez improved to 6-0. He took control from the bell, landing three quick rights that drove Soto (3-3) to the ropes. Soto escaped to the center of the ring once but Ramirez cut him off and had him trapped again.

This time, Ramirez landed a long left, then a sharp left that dropped Soto. He was counted out at 1:32 of the round by referee Gwen Adair.