ACOMA PUEBLO — Just a minute-and-a-half from the end of the 10th and final round, Santa Fe's Joaquin Zamora scored a technical knockout against Joshua Renteria of Tucson on Saturday night at Sky City Casino.

Zamora won his 12th fight in a row and improved his overall record to 18-2-1, with his 12th professional knockout. Renteria dropped to 15-3.

The left-handed Zamora took control of the fight in the fourth round and was on his way to a lopsided unanimous decision when he backed Renteria into a corner and pounded on him. Referee Rocky Burke stopped the fight with 1:32 gone in the last round.

"I knew he was a tough fighter," Zamora said of Renteria. "I had seen videos on him."

Zamora scored a knockdown in the second round and as the fight continued, he used a very effective right jab to keep Renteria off-balance. By the sixth round, Zamora was dominating the 154-pound bout, and had Renteria backing up and on his heels.

Zamora, who works for the Santa Fe Parks and Recreation Department, had one of the best fights of his career.

"You'd always rather have a knockout," Zamora said. "I'd like to end all of them early."

Zamora has a history as a slow starter, and lived up to that in this fight.

"I've been in this business a long time," said veteran trainer Al Lovato of Santa Fe. "It doesn't matter how much you warm up, your body is still cold."

"I know I'm a slow starter. I get sharper as I go," Zamora added.

The jab was the key for Zamora.

"If you look at all the great fighters, they all had great jabs," Zamora said.

On the undercard, Arturo Crespin of Las Vegas, N.M., lost a unanimous decision to Carlos Sanchez of Albuquerque. Crespin, who dropped to 2-1, was surprised when he heard he had lost.

"I'm pretty disappointed," Crespin said. "I thought I did enough to win."