Justin Pauldo convincingly out-boxed Josec Ruiz to extend his winning streak Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The junior welterweight was busier and more accurate for most of their eight-round junior welterweight fight. Pauldo worked well off his jab, landed various right hands and won a unanimous decision in the opener of the Erislandy Lara-Greg Vendetti undercard at Microsoft Theater.
Judges Carla Caiz (79-73), Lou Moret (80-72) and Zachary Young (79-73) scored their fight for Pauldo by wide distances.
The 25-year-old Pauldo (14-1, 7 KOs, 1 NC), of Orlando, Florida, has won nine straight fights since losing a six-round split decision to Efrain Cruz in July 2015.
The 26-year-old Ruiz (21-4-3, 14 KOs), of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, lost a second straight bout. Lightweight prospect Gabriel Flores Jr. (18-0, 6 KOs) out-pointed Ruiz in his previous appearance, a 10-rounder June 18 at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Ruiz needed a knockout to win entering the eighth round, but he couldn’t land any punches that hurt Pauldo.
Ruiz landed a left-right combination with just under a minute to go in the eighth round. They traded toward the end of the final round, but by then it was clear Pauldo had won.
Pauldo maintained distance for much of the seventh round, when he pumped his jab and fended off Ruiz with right hands.
Pauldo’s right uppercut caught Ruiz about 45 seconds into the sixth round. Pauldo continued controlling the fight with his jab in the sixth round and built on his lead.
Ruiz’s right landed just after the halfway point of the fifth round. Pauldo’s right uppercut connected with just over 30 seconds to go in the fifth round.
Ruiz landed two hard jabs in the final minute of the fourth round that kept Pauldo from coming forward. A short, right hand by Pauldo landed just before the fourth round ended.
Ruiz’s counter right hand landed flush with just over 30 seconds to go in the third round. Just before the bell sounded to end the third round, Ruiz caught Pauldo with a right hand.
Ruiz went after Pauldo’s body at the start of the second round. Later in the second, Pauldo landed a left hook to Ruiz’s body and quickly came up top to connect with another left hook.
Pauldo and Ruiz traded during a competitive exchange in the final 20 seconds of the second round.
Pauldo’s left hook knocked Ruiz off balance just after the midway mark of the first round. Ruiz landed a hard right to the body about a minute into the fight.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.