Julio Ceja stops Anselmo Moreno in Panama

Moreno has been stopped twice in a row

Anselmo Moreno’s run as a top fighter may have come to an end on Saturday, as “Chemito” suffered a third-round stoppage loss to Julio Ceja in Panama City. There are a few videos of the fight floating around, none in any sort of quality definition, but they’re good enough to get the point across.

Moreno (36-6-1, 12 KO) and Ceja (31-2, 28 KO) put on two uneventful rounds before Ceja caught Moreno with a series of uppercuts in the third, sending him to a knee. Moreno, visibly disheartened, took the full ten count, rising as soon as the referee waved it off and walking dejectedly to his corner.

Moreno, who was the dominant force in the bantamweight division for several years, is now 1-4 in his last five fights. A couple of those losses were questionable, to be sure, but he’s been stopped twice in a row and looked mentally beaten here. Though he’s just 31, the lower weight divisions age fighters in a hurry.

If he does elect to walk away, he’ll leave behind a strong record and a legitimate reign atop the bantamweight division. He just can’t go into the ring like he did against Ceja.