Rubio KOs Wilson Santana

From FightNews:

Marco Antonio Rubio (49-5-1, 42 KOs) scored an eighth round KO over previously unbeaten Wilson Santana (11-1, 7 KOs) on Saturday night at the Coliseo Centenario in Torreon, Mexico. Time was :45. Rubio is now targeting unbeaten David Lemieux.

In other action, super featherweight Miguel “Mickey” Roman (33-7, 25 KOs) demolished Angel Priolo (30-9, 20 KOs) in round one.

Also middleweight Marco “Dorado Reyes (19-1, 17 KOs) stopped Rito Ruvalcaba (34-11, 30 KOs) in the opening stanza.

Rubio lost his biggest fight to date against Kelly Pavlik by TKO in February 2009, but he should pose a formidable challenge for Lemieux, who has yet to face a legitimate contender. The two are set to meet in a WBC eliminator bout in the early part of this year, with the winner expected to challenge Sergio Martinez for the middleweight title at some point later in 2011.

Lemieux is considered one of the most promising prospects in the sport; a bout against Rubio would go a long way towards determining whether he’s ready to face Martinez, who is wanting for quality opposition at the moment. But even with a win one can’t be sure the Canadian is up for the champion without him surviving an additional test against the likes of Pavlik or Paul Wiliams.