Rey Vargas boxes his way to victory, Ronnie Rios shocks Diego De La Hoya, Joet Gonzalez win sets up possible title shot

Boxing or running, that was the question.

WBC super-bantamweight champion Rey Vargas boxed his way to an unpopular 12-round unanimous decision over aggressive Tomoki Kameda Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Ca.

All three judges scored the bout 117-110 for Vargas, though the match looked a little closer.

Vargas (34-0, 22 KOs) was elusive throughout the 12-rounder, jabbing and clipping the onrushing Kameda with right hands. His edge in height and reach gave him an obvious advantage. Vargas outboxed his Japanese opponent for long stretches during his workmanlike victory.

Kameda (36-3, 22 KOs) occasionally landed some hard blows, drawing cheers from the pro-Vargas crowd. He used his aggressive nature to attempt to turn the bout into a street fight.

"The idea was to throw a lot of punches and to have a very intelligent fight," Vargas said. "This is a boxer’s style, to fight with precision."

Ronny Rios shocked previously undefeated Diego De La Hoya - winning the fight by stoppage in round six. After a feeling out first round, the fighters went toe-to-toe the rest of the way. De La Hoya did well in the early going, scoring with jabs and crosses, but Rios (31-3, 15 KOs) started to take over in round four. He buzzed De La Hoya (21-1, 10 KOs) with a couple of right hands in round five, and weakened him with body shots.

A little past the minute mark in round six, Rios sent De La Hoya to one knee with an uppercut. The #3 ranked super bantamweight beat the count, but muttered something to the referee, who immediately waved off the fight.

Title hungry challenger Joet Gonzalez broke down and stopped Manuel Avila in round six. Gonzalez (22-0, 13 KOs) was outboxed in the early going as Avila (23-2-1, 8 KOs) jabbed and connected with scoring shots. Gonzalez upped the pressure in round four, forcing Avila out of his gameplan and nailing the Fairfield, CA fighter with right hands. Lacking the fire power to keep Gonzalez off him, Avila ate a number of blows until the referee finally called a halt to the bout.

Before he fought Mexican slugger Rocky Hernandez, Venezuelan super featherweight Roger Gutierrez (22-3-1, 14 KOs) was overrated and a flawed. Gutierrez proved his point by knocking out the highly rated Hernandez (28-1, 25 KOs) in the opening round. Hernandez drew first blood with hard left hooks, but Gutierrez hung in and fought back, finding a home for his right hand.

That right hand paid huge dividends later in the round. As Hernandez worked on the inside, Gutierrez cracked him with a solid punch. Hernandez fell to the canvas with legs of jello. He beat the count but fell again, prompting the referee to call the fight.