Ponce de Leon dominates Lazcano, Smith stops Bruce

Former 122-pound titleholder Daniel Ponce de Leon outworked tough Eduardo Lazcano over 10 rounds to earn a shutout decision in the main event of a Fox Deportes-televised card from the Hardrock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev., on Friday.

Ponce de Leon (43-4, 35 knockouts), a 31-year-old veteran from Chihuahua, Mexico, won by unanimous scores of 100-90. It was the Southern California-based southpaw's second consecutive victory since suffering back-to-back losses to Adrien Broner (UD 10) and Yuriorkis Gamboa (TD 8) last year.

Lazcano (24-3, 11 KOs), a stocky 26-year-old southpaw from Chihuahua, was game throughout the bout but he only let his hands go in spots, which allowed Ponce de Leon -- THE RING's No. 8-rated featherweight -- to outwork him in every round.

Ponce de Leon worked behind his jab and scored often with a consistent body attack and combination punching.

In the co-featured bout of the Golden Boy Promotions show, junior middleweight fringe contender Ishe Smith looked sharp in dismantling tough but outclassed Ayi Bruce in the fourth round of their scheduled 10 rounder.

Smith (23-5, 11 KOs), a Las Vegas native who sparred with Floyd Mayweather during the undefeated star's camp for Miguel Cotto, controlled the bout with a hard jab while punishing the 26-year-old Ghanaian with left hooks to the body and head.

Bruce (21-7, 13 KOs) sucked it up as much as he could but he was clearly outgunned by the skilled veteran. Referee Kenny Bayless did the right thing by waving the bout off at 2:10 of the fourth.

Like Ponce de Leon, Smith scored his second consecutive victory since suffering back-to-back losses -- 10-round decisions to Fernando Guerrero in 2010 and Daniel Jacobs in 2009.

photo by Naoki Fukuda