Highlights: Omar Salcido forces 9th round stoppage against Chris Colbert

Chris Colbert’s corner threw in the towel midway through the 9th to give Omar Salcido a big TKO victory

Omar Salcido picked up the biggest win of his career tonight in a ProBox main event, overwhelming Chris Colbert and forcing a 9th round corner stoppage.

Pre-fight Colbert looked dialed in and ready for business, with no creamsicle haircut or wild trunks. But Salcido (20-1, 14 KO) set the tone early, popping Colbert with a big left to the head right away. Salcido was very hittable, but the difference in power made Colbert’s best work look almost meaningless.

Colbert (17-3, 6 KO) tried to hang in and trade, but had largely abandoned that strategy by the middle of the 4th round. His best work was footwork, using movement to force Salcido to chase all night, seldom getting cornered and refusing to let Salcido cut off the ring.

Salcido hurt Colbert badly at the end of the 6th round, and Colbert’s balance never looked fully steady again. Colbert’s corner threatened to stop the fight during at least two different round breaks. Referee Michael DeJesus warned Colbert for holding in the 9th round, and Colbert’s corner followed through on their word and stopped the fight not long after.

It’s a devastating loss for Colbert, who has now dropped three of his last four fights, with only one win out of the last 39 months of his career. He’s looked very fragile at 135 pounds, and even a relatively unpolished Salcido was able to chase him around the ring and break him down.

As for Salcido, he delivers another fan-friendly action performance, and exits with a reputation-boosting win over a former (interim) champion. Just one year after making his US debut, he’s established himself as an entertaining, credible, but flawed and potentially beatable opponent for any number of lightweights looking for marketable fights.

Tsendbaatar Erdenebat UD-10 Frency Fortunato

Dominant showing from Erdenebat (11-0, 5 KO), who was relentless throughout. Constant forward movement and aggressive combinations high and low established a tone early, and a clash of heads with a minute to go in the 2nd round may have saved Fortunato. Erdenebat landed a simultaneous mean left hook to the body, but the accidental head clash bought Fortunato some time to recover.

Fortunato (15-2, 11 KO) couldn’t keep Erdenebat away, resorting to a low blow at the end of the 4th round that earned him a harsh warning. If there’s a knock on Erdenebat’s performance, it’s an inability to finish up early. Presumably, the one-shot finishing power just isn’t there, as Erdenebat spent the later rounds clowning a bit, blowing kisses between missed punches from Fortunato instead of pressing him for a knockout. Judges rightly had it wide for Erdenebat, with official scores of 98-92, 98-92, and 100-90.

Najee Lopez KO-3 Ismael Ocles

Game effort from Ocles, who was a last minute replacement that came in significantly smaller and was obviously feeling Lopez’s power even on blocked punches. Lopez (12-0, 9 KO) put him down for good on a body shot early in the 3rd. Ocles (15-17-2, 3 KO) took the full 10 count, and was still wincing minutes later when the result was officially announced.

David Navarro UD-8 Mykell Gamble

Wider than expected scorecards, but not a lot to evaluate because of how well Gamble used his reach advantage. Lots of lunging and punches coming up short for Navarro (7-1, 3 KO), but he was much busier, and that may have swung rounds his way. Gamble (7-1, 4 KO) repeatedly lost his mouthpiece on big shots, finally taking a point deduction the third time it happened. Didn’t really influence the result, as the official cards of 78-73, 78-83, 77-74 would have been 2-4 points ahead for Navarro even without it.