Jorge Solis rode a pair of knockdowns to pound previously unbeaten Francisco Cordero into submission midway through the sixth round of their 12-round WBA Interim Super Featherweight championship main event bout Saturday evening at the Coliseo Olimpico in Guadalajara, Mexico. It appeared as if everyone’s night would end early when Solis came flying off of his stool to hammer Cordero with vicious power shots. A series of right hands upstairs had the untested Colombian in trouble, but it was a body shot that led to the bout’s first knockdown, barely a minute into the bout.
To his credit, Cordero didn’t come all the way to Mexico just to serve as a punching bag. The challenger fought back bravely, making a fight of it in the second and third rounds as Solis was just slightly less intimidating in each round.
Things swung back in favor of the Mexican McNulty in the fourth round, pounding Cordero with power shots before scoring his second knockdown of the night, depositing his foe into a corner with a straight right hand.It appeared as if Cordero had enough in the fifth, as Solis was relentless with his attack, so confident in fact that he fought most of the round with his hands by his sides and wailing away to his opponent’s body. Cordero was on the verge of submitting, only to be saved by the bell.
While not quite a world beater, one thing Solis does very well is close the show. Recognizing he had wounded prey in front of him, the alphabet titlist kicked it into high gear in the sixth, pounding a retreating Cordero with right hands upstairs and raking left hooks to the body.
A left hook under Cordero’s right hand set up a flurry of head shots by Solis midway through the round. The sequence went unanswered long enough for the referee to intervene, rescuing Cordero from further punishment. The official time was 1:45 of the sixth round. Solis improves to 40-2-2 (29KO) with his third straight win, while making the second successful defense of his130 lb. title he picked up earlier this year.
Cordero suffers his first loss as a pro, falling to 23-1 (15KO).
