Perez stops Terry in six on Solo Boxeo Tecate

Eloy Perez may be one step closer to a showdown with fellow junior lightweight contender Adrien Broner after  defeating journeyman Ira Terry Friday night on Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo.

Perez (23-0-2, 7 KOs) easily overpowered the taller, quicker Terry (24-7-0, 14 KOs) in a sixth-round stoppage in the main event of a Golden Boy-promoted card in Perez’s adopted hometown of Salinas, California.

Terry, who hails from Memphis, Tennessee, seemed to be in control of the fight in the first round, sticking the jab in Perez’s face and moving out of the smaller man’s range. Perez landed his only significant combination of the round at the bell -- and it sent Terry reeling toward the ropes.

From the second round on, Perez began catching Terry consistently with left hooks and looping right hands around the Tennessean’s gloves. Referee Dan Stell seemed close to stopping it in the third as Perez chased Terry around the ring after landing two devastating left hooks. The pattern repeated itself in the fourth and fifth rounds, with Terry doing just enough to keep Stell from stopping the fight.

Perez also improved defensively as the fight wore on, ducking and slipping Terry’s jabs. Terry seemed flustered and began exchanging more with Perez, and in the sixth, Perez hit him with a right hand that left him hurt once again. Stell stopped the fight when Perez began pounding him along the ropes.

This was Terry’s fifth consecutive loss, and all of those losses have been stoppages. The 24-year-old journeyman has lost seven bouts overall.

Perez, THE RING's No. 9-rated junior lightweight, was close to securing a fight with No. 6-rated Adrien Broner (21-0, 17 KOs), according to Perez’s manager, Kathy Garcia, but the deal fell through. Broner is scheduled to fight Argentina native Vicente Martin Rodriguez for the vacant WBO 130-pound title next month.

On the undercard, 22-year-old Paul Mendez (6-2-0, 6 KOs), battered overmatched Loren Myers, (8-13-1, 2 KOs), in a six-round light-heavyweight bout. Mendez, who enjoyed huge advantages in height, reach, and hand-speed, landed almost at will, and visibly shook Myers with uppercuts throughout the fight.  All three judges scored the fight a shutout for Mendez.