Gabriel Flores, Jr. added another win to his record before a hometown crowd.
Flores defeated Ronal Ron by unanimous decision before an estimated crowd of 5,500 at Banner Island Ballpark in his hometown of Stockton, California. Scores were 78-74, 78-74, and 79-73 for Flores, who improved to 24-2, 8 knockouts.
Ron was game from the opening bell, but Flores was effective throughout much of the fight by outboxing Ron. Flores did well moving in and out of Ron’s range, connecting with mostly two-punch combinations to the head and body.
Sensing he was down on the scorecards, Ron was the aggressor during the final two rounds. Ron did find success with the tactic, but Flores was able to find openings and countered well with left hooks to the head and body.
Gabe Flores, Sr., who is the father and trainer of Flores, Jr., was impressed with the performance.
“Gabriel looked sharp and his defense was on point, like it was before,” Flores, Sr. told The Ring Sunday evening. “Getting back to his old slick and efficient (self).”
Before the fight, Nonito Donaire, a former world titleholder in four weight divisions, joined Flores’ team as an assistant. Donaire, based in Las Vegas, also has begun working with a few prospects over the last several months.
Flores, Sr. also told The Ring Flores, Jr. is penciled to return to the ring on October 12, which will also take place in Stockton.
In his previous fight on March 16, which also took place at Adventist Health (also known as Stockton) Arena in Stockton, Flores defeated previously-undefeated Julian Rodarte by split decision. The 24-year-old has won his last three fights since losing by decision to Giovanni Cabrera in July 2022.
Up until the loss to Cabrera, Flores, now fighting as a lightweight, fought most of his pro career under the Top Rank banner.
Ron, who is originally from Caracas, Venezuela and now resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Chino Hills, falls to 14-7, 11 KOs. In his previous fight on April 13, Ron was stopped by unbeaten prospect Abdullah Mason.
The 27-year-old has lost his last four fights.
Also on Saturday’s card, Rodarte lost by unanimous decision to journeyman Andrew Rodgers. All three judges scored the bout 77-75 for Rodgers, who goes to 9-12-3, 3 KOs.
Rodgers reportedly weighed five pounds above the contracted weight of 135 pounds. The fight went forward after both sides negotiated an agreement after Friday’s weigh-in.
Rodarte, who resides in Downey, California, falls to 19-2-2, 8 KOs.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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