By Wyatt Johnston

2000 Olympian Daniel Ponce De Leon stopped tough journeyman Phillip Payne for the first time in his career in the seventh round in Oceanside, California on Friday. De Leon floored Payne in the first and third rounds, but Payne survived and was competitive in some of the middle rounds De Leon finished Payne off with a straight left hand in round seven, putting Payne down for the third and final time.  Refree Tony Crebs didnt even bother with a count as Payne was out of it. Officially, the fight was stopped with :57 left in the round. Payne's record is now 16-14-1, but it was a good win for De Leon as Payne was coming off a win against former contender William Abelyan that may have ended Abelyan's career.

An Oceanside, California bout between Ernesto Zepeda and Roque Cassiani ended early when a third-round clash of heads opened up a cut on Zepeda's forehead.  The fight was ruled a technical draw. Based on Zepeda's prior win over former champ Cesar Bazan, Zepeda appears in Boxingtalk's top twenty at 140 pounds.

On the same show, super feathweight Jorge Martinez won a unanimous decision over Jaime Orrantia by scores of 59-55 (twice) and 60-54.  With the win, Martinez moves to (13-2-1) while Orrantia drops to (9-13-4). Martinez was coming off a loss to Cesar Figueroa.