BOXING : Sharp Borboa Cuts Down Roman

Firing punches from all angles in a flurry of quick combinations, Julio Cesar Borboa showcased himself as a rising star Monday night at the Forum to defend his International Boxing Federation super-flyweight championship.

After a slow start, Borboa, 24, dominated challenger Jorge Luis Roman from the second round on, opened a cut at the end of the second and a deeper gash in the fourth, and won when Dr. Robert Karns advised referee James Jen-Kin to stop the fight at 2:30 of the fourth before a crowd of 4,328.

Borboa, of Sonora, Mexico, crunched a left hook into the body followed by a right to the head that sent Roman to the canvas for a knockdown just before Jen-Kin and Karns decided to stop the fight with blood pouring out of the new cut over Roman’s left eye.

“I kind of was hoping that he wouldn’t get cut because I wanted him to really bring out the best in me,” said Borboa (22-4, 20 knockouts). I was hoping to really show the people here that I’m a good fighter. But I’m happy.”

The first cut, over the right eye of Roman (17-10), was caused by a Borboa head butt, but the decisive cut was produced by a series of Borboa combinations.

Borboa opened up in the third round, landing heavy hooks to the head and body as Roman’s face got messier. Borboa closed the round with a picture-perfect right-to-the-body, left-hook-to-the-head combination.

Roman, coming off an upset of highly regarded Scotty Olson, made a rally early in the third, trapping Borboa against the ropes with a couple of right uppercuts.

But by the end of the round, Borboa was back in control.

“I thought the ref did the right thing by stopping it,” Borboa said. “The cut was bad, and it would have only gotten worse if I kept going.”

In the 10-round co-feature, Carlos (Famous) Hernandez breezed past veteran junior-welterweight Narciso Valenzuela, winning an easy unanimous decision.

Hernandez (16-0-1) took control of the bout in the sixth when a series of sharp overhand rights opened up a narrow cut over Valenzuela’s left eye. Though the bleeding was not heavy through the rest of the fight, Valenzuela (35-16), best known for sending Oscar De La Hoya to the canvas before getting knocked out in the first round last October, had to limit his attack to protect the eye.

“I was kind of dumb,” Hernandez said. “I was trying to stop him with a one-punch knockout. I should listen to my corner (including trainer Jackie McCoy), and they were telling me to settle down, throw more punches.”