Highlights
—Miguel Flores worked behind his jab early to outbox Mario Briones, walloping him with left hooks to the body.
—Flores soon abandoned this approach, though, and engaged his opponent in brutal toe-to-toe exchanges that began to take their toll on Briones.
—Although Briones fought valiantly with a nasty cut above his right eye, Flores’ accurate punching and blinding combinations kept him in command.
It was Miguel Flores’ first time headlining a televised fight card, and it most assuredly won’t be his last, as the 126-pound prospect thrilled with a savage, all-action victory over Mexican brawler Mario Briones.
Flores won a wide decision victory (98-92, 100-90 twice), but the scorecards don’t tell the whole tale of the fight: a grueling, blood-and-guts blast where both fighters ate plenty of shots and asked for seconds.
After Flores (19-0, 9 KOs) picked Briones apart in Round 1, working behind his jab and then smashing him with hooks to the body, he abandoned that approach in the following frame, standing and trading with his opponent as if to send a message: If it was a firefight that Briones wanted, Flores was here to give it to him.
He pummeled Briones with violent left hooks, beautifully thrown uppercuts and a laser-guided, sweat-spraying right hand.
Still, Briones (27-5-2, 20 KOs) took all the punishment and dished out plenty of his own, landing flush right hands in a blazing Round 5 where both fighters unleashed a fusillade of punches.
Although Briones’ right eye bled badly from Round 3 on, he refused to stop bringing the fight to Flores, who had never gone past eight rounds before, pressuring him into a dogfight and bludgeoning him in a particularly brutal Round 9.
But Flores’ more accurate punching (he landed 45 percent of his power shots compared to 36 percent for Briones, according to CompuBox), tireless work rate and rifling jab proved to be the difference as he pulled away for the win in entertaining fashion.
Miguel Flores landed his left hook with devastating accuracy during his win over Mario Briones in San Antonio. (Francisco Perez/Premier Boxing Champions)
