NEW YORK — Sergio Mendoza produced a stunning upset to claim the unified WBC and WBA flyweight titles with a fifth-round TKO of Ricardo Sandoval on Saturday, scoring three knockdowns before the referee intervened at 1:46 of the fifth round to crown a new champion from Mexico.
Mendoza, 28-1 (24 KOs), dropped Sandoval twice in the second round — first with a flash right hand to the face and then with a destructive left uppercut to the chin — and wobbled him again in the third before finishing the contest in the fifth. "All the hard work paid off. I'm a natural 112-pounder and this showed it," Mendoza said. "I have no family, no friends, but I've got my team and I was focused to win." He added: "I knew my power would be effective at 112 and it was. I had him hurt, but he was motivated and prepared, and I got him out of there."
The victory carried added emotion as Mendoza dedicated it to a brother who had recently passed away and came at just seven days' notice as a replacement for minimumweight champion Oscar Collazo, who withdrew through injury. Sandoval, 27-3, of Rialto, California, had captured the unified titles in Japan in July 2025 against Kenshiro Teraji and had not fought in 15 months, while Mendoza had lost an IBF light-flyweight title fight in Japan six months earlier to Thailand's Thanongsak Simsri by second-round knockout. Standing six inches taller than Collazo with 6 ½ inches more reach, Mendoza presented a far different style. Promoter Oscar De La Hoya told BoxingScene: "Amazing surprise … the kid [Mendoza] had like seven days' notice to replace Collazo. Incredible KO of Sandoval." Mendoza said afterwards: "I'm in shock right now. Viva Mexico!"
On the undercard, Maryland lightweight Jahmahl Harvey improved to 5-0 with a stirring third-round knockout of Pedro Castaneda, 9-2-1, at 1:08 of the frame. The southpaw, a 2024 U.S. Olympic quarterfinalist, landed a wicked left-handed blast to the jaw for his fourth knockout after working the body impressively in the second. "Everything was clicking … working to the jab, he could never tell where I was going with my shots," Harvey said. "I didn't throw [the final blow] to knock him out … I saw his eyes. I knew he was hurt." Puerto Rico's Jan Paul Rivera, 17-0, dominated Abraham Perfecto, 14-3, in the DAZN main-card opener, winning by three scores of 99-89 after decking Mexico's Perfecto with a second-round left hook to the chin.
Rivera, a prospect in Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions stable fighting for the fourth time this year and ranked No.14 by the WBO at super-featherweight, slowed Perfecto with hurtful body work before a dubious ninth-round point deduction for a low blow briefly checked his cruise to victory.