Bryan Flores continues to shine. The next step could be a fight against a top junior welterweight contender.

Flores remained unbeaten Friday night, dropping late-sub Jorge Bermudez twice en route to a fourth-round knockout victory at the Gimnasio Municipal Josué Neri Santos in his hometown of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

The 28-year-old Flores improved to 26-0-1, 15 knockouts.

Promoter Oswaldo Kuchle was impressed by Flores’ performance, particularly with what led up to Friday night.

“We expected a difficult fight, based on the aggressive style of Bermudez,” Kuchle told The Ring Saturday afternoon. “Ultimately, Bryan was able to resolve his responsibility in grand fashion, thanks to his preparation, determination, and that pride that has taken him to the next level. Yesterday, he demonstrated his growth in giant leaps.

“This victory was very useful because Bryan won inside and outside of the ring. He had an excellent camp. He has demonstrated his true potential, he has matured, and he has shown improvement in each fight, especially with the amount of work he has done in Las Vegas (under trainer Ismael Salas).”

The taller Flores dropped Bermudez less than a minute left in round three, courtesy of a right to the body, followed by a left hook to the head. Bermudez did beat the count, but barely did make it out of the round. Moments into round four, Flores dropped Bermudez to the canvas, this time from a left hook-right cross combination to the head. Bermudez’s corner immediately threw in a towel, prompting the fight to be stopped at 35 seconds.

Kuchle is angling for Flores to fight the best fighters at 140 pounds, which he hopes will take place later this year, considering Flores at the peak of his career.

“We have great plans for Bryan,” said Kuchle. “I’m sure (the win over Bermudez) caught the attention of the contenders in the division. His opportunity will come. He has demonstrated his quality at this stage of his career.”

Flores previously fought on September 1, scoring a third round knockout over journeyman Eleazar Valenzuela. Flores notched the most-impressive win, to date, of his career, overcoming a knockdown to defeat Shinard Bunch by split decision on April 7.

Bermudez, who resides in Concordia, Argentina, falls to 12-5, 5 KOs. The 27-year-old took the fight after original opponent, Marios Matamba of South Africa, was reportedly denied a visa from entering Mexico.

Junior lightweight Miguel ‘Mickey’ Roman, who also resides in Ciudad Juarez, defeated Takuya Watanabe by unanimous decision. Scores were 98-92, 98-92, and 99-91 for Roman, who improved to 68-14, 49 KOs.

The 38-year-old Roman was the more effective fighter throughout most of the fight. Roman landed thudding punches, particularly late in the fight, but Watanabe kept fighting back.

Roman is now unbeaten in his last seven fights since losing by knockout to O’Shaquie Foster in November 2020.

Watanabe, who resides in Tokyo, Japan, falls to 40-13-2, 22 KOs. The 35-year-old has only two wins in his last six fights, but one of those victories came against former world featherweight titleholder Jhonny Gonzalez in December 2022.

In bantamweight action, Diana Fernandez improved to 31-4-1, 5 KOs, stopping Argentina’s Soledad del Valle Frías (13-14-5, 4 KOs) near the end of round three. Fernandez also resides in Ciudad Juarez.

The card was promoted by LatinKO Promotions and aired live on Televisa throughout Mexico.