Mendoza stops Sandoval to win WBC flyweight title
Sergio "Yoreme" Mendoza stepped in for the injured Oscar Collazo, floored the champion three times and the referee stopped the fight in the fifth round in Chicago.
Mexico's Sergio "Yoreme" Mendoza stopped Ricardo Sandoval in the fifth round and is the new WBC flyweight champion (112 pounds). The fight took place on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, according to the WBC.
Sandoval hit the canvas three times: twice in the second round and once in the fifth, according to The Ring. Referee Mark Nelson waved it off at 1:46 of that last round. Boxing 24/7 adds one detail: in the second round, a Sandoval right hook put Mendoza down once.
The new champion took the fight on short notice. According to the WBC, Oscar Collazo left training camp with a rib injury, and Sandoval's opponent changed days before the bout. Mendoza was coming off the first loss of his professional career, in April in Japan, when he fought at 108 pounds. This time he moved up to 112.
"I'm not a 108-pounder; I'm a 112-pounder, and tonight everyone saw it."
The line is Mendoza's, said to DAZN and reported by the WBC. He dedicated the win to his brother, who died two months earlier, and said he traveled to Chicago with only his team, without family or friends.
| Boxer | Wins | Losses | Knockouts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sergio Mendoza | 28 | 1 | 24 |
| Ricardo Sandoval | 27 | 3 | 18 |
Sandoval had won seven straight and had taken the title from Japan's Kenshiro Teraji in July 2025. It was the first time in 30 fights that he lost before the final bell, according to The Ring.
Which belts were at stake still needs to be clarified: the WBC reports only its own flyweight title, while The Ring and Boxing 24/7 also mention the WBA's. The sources consulted do not give the scorecards or details of the knockdowns in the second round.
