Contenders Struggle but Stay Perfect : Boxing: Romero, Mosley stay on course for world title shots by winning the hard way.

For Danny Romero and Shane Mosley, two fighters accustomed to quick and brilliant victories, Friday night was all about patience, poise and hard work.

Both fighters are aiming for world title shots by the end of 1995, but in separate bouts they had to endure unexpected tests of endurance before a crowd of about 350 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium to keep their records perfect.

Romero (19-0, 17 knockouts) defended his North American Boxing Federation flyweight title against Manuel Jesus Herrera when the bout was stopped with four seconds to go in the 12th round.

In an earlier lightweight bout, Mosley (15-0, 15 KOs) stopped Luis Ramirez 45 seconds into the 10th and final round after controlling the fight from the opening bell but getting frustrated by Ramirez’s ability to withstand punishment.

The surprisingly competitive Herrera (12-3-1) kept Romero at bay often in the bout with his reach advantage, body movement and a snapping overhand right that had Romero’s left eye badly swollen by the 12th.

Romero, 20, who knocked Herrera down in the second and 12th rounds, had never gone past nine rounds in his professional career before Friday.

After the 12th-round knockdown, which came moments into the round, Romero peppered Herrera with his trademark overhand right, then lifted Herrera from the canvas with a quick right uppercut to the jaw.

Romero, who was penalized a point in the ninth for holding, was chasing an obviously dazed Herrera across the ring, firing his right, when the bout was stopped.

“He was a lot more awkward, a lot tougher than we thought,” Romero said about Herrera. “He recovered really quickly each time I hit him.”

All three judges had Romero comfortably ahead.

Romero, who fought at 119 as an amateur, also said he felt weak from the second round on, and said this is probably a sign that he might not be able to make the 112-pound flyweight limit much longer.

Romero is in the top five in both the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Council flyweight rankings.

“I’d like to get a title shot instantly,” Romero said. “I don’t know how long I can stay at this weight.”

In the earlier fight, Mosley, 23, went into the 10th for only the second time in his career.

“The guy, he was moving back on me all the time, taking a lot of the power off of my punches,” Mosley said. “He was afraid of me, and it’s hard to fight a guy who won’t fight with you.”

Mosley, who looked frustrated at times while piling up the points with his stiff left jab and straight right, won every round on the cards. But he came out determined to score the knockout in the 10th.

Mosley’s next fight might be on the undercard of the Michael Moorer-George Foreman heavyweight title bout Nov. 5 in Las Vegas.