By Jason Kim: Super bantamweight Rafael Marquez (38-5, 34 KOs) stopped Jose Francisco Mendoza (21-3-2, 17 KOs) in the 3rd round tonight at the Arena Monterrey, in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Marquez, 34, landed a crushing right hand in the 3rd round that sent Mendoza down on the canvas. The fight was then stopped at 2:26 of the round by referee Carlos Garcia. Marquez was less aggressive than he normally is and looked as if he was intentionally trying to slow things down to get a feel for his opponent.

Marquez jabbed expertly in the 1st round, firing right hands and left hooks behind the jab. Mendoza fought back well, connecting with some nice shots of his own in the opening round. The action was kind of slow compared to Marquez’s three consecutive wars with Israel Vazquez, but with all the punches that connected in their two epic battles it’s not surprising that Marquez wanted to take things a little slower than he has in the past with Vazquez.

Also on the card, Jhonny Gonzalez (40-7, 34 KOs) challenged World Boxing Council super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka (34-4-3, 21 KOs). Unfortunately for Gonzalez, he was flattened in the 3rd round by a huge left hand to the head that sent Gonzalez tumbling to the canvas as if he had been shot.

After several moments, a badly hurt Gonzalez got to his feet and wanted to continue fighting. However, referee Kenny Bayless stepped in and stopped the bout at this point. The loss breaks up a six fight winning streak for Gonzalez, who hadn’t been beaten since being stopped by Filipino star Gerry Penalosa in the 7th round two years ago in September 2007.