Former two-division world champion Oscar Valdez (32-2, 24 KOs) turned back the clock to wear down and stop inexperienced, younger Liam Wilson (13-3, 7 KOs) in the seventh round to capture the interim WBO super featherweight title on Friday night at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
The 33-year-old Valdez flurried on the bloody, battered, and befuddled Australian Wilson in the seventh, causing referee Mark Nelson to step in and stop the fight. The stoppage time was 2:48 of the seventh.
Valdez had lost his previous fight against Emanuel Navarrete, but tonight, he had the perfect opponent in Wilson, who had been recently knocked out by Emanuel last year.
With this win, it’ll be interesting to see what Valdez does. He might be too old for some of the more talented fighters in the division, like O’Shaquie Foster and Joe Cordina.
WBC/WBA female minimumweight champion Seniesa Estrada (26-0, 9 KOs) defeated IBF/WBO Yokasta Valle (30-3, 9 KOs) by a ten-round unanimous decision in their undisputed championship contest. The scores were 97-93, 97-93 and 97-93. Estrada used her high-volume attacks to get the better of Valle, who could not match her output. This fight was more action-packed than any of the other contests on the card.
Lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (20-0, 16 KOs) outboxed Xolisani Ndongeni (31-5, 18 KOs), winning a wide ten-round unanimous decision. The scores were 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93.
#2 WBC Muratalla had the 33-year-old Ndongeni hurt several times in the fight but failed to put his hands together to get the knockout. Muratalla had problems with the high work rate, long arms, and the unorthodox style of Ndongeni, who was throwing shots from every angle, making it difficult to predict.
The 33-year-old Ndongeni threw many looping punches, making Muratalla hesitant to go after him for the knockout. In between rounds, Muratalla’s trainer, Robert Garcia, urged him to let his hands go, but he wouldn’t. He was too defensive and worried about the shots that Ndongeni was throwing.
It was disappointing that Muratalla couldn’t follow the instructions from Garcia because if he can’t do it against this level of opponent, he won’t be able to do it against the talented fighters at 135, and he’ll lose.
A contender like William Zepeda would have done much better against Ndongeni tonight if he’d been in there, as he would have jumped on him and thrown nonstop punches to knock him out.
That’s what Muratalla needed to do, but that’s not his style. He’s more of a pure boxer with good power, but his shots don’t have enough pop to stop fighters with his defensive focus. Again, a fighter like William Zepeda would have done well against Ndongeni and finished him within six rounds.
Muratalla will have to change his fighting style if he wants to succeed against fighters like WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, Vasily Lomachenko, Andy Cruz, and Keyshawn Davis because he’s not going to outbox them. With his low work rate, Muratalla doesn’t have enough power to knock out those guys.
Undefeated light welterweight Lindolfo Delgado (20-0, 15 KOs) scored a seventh-round knockout of Carlos Sanchez (25-3, 19 KOs).
The 2016 Olympian Delgado caught Sanchez with a short right hand to the chin, sending him down face-first on the canvas in the seventh round. The fight was then halted. The time of the stoppage was at the 0:48 mark.
2020 Olympic heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr. (9-0, 9 KOs) destroyed 41-year-old veteran Donald Haynesworth (18-9-1, 16 KOs) by a first-round knockout.
The 24-year-old Torrez showed excellent footwork and power as they jumped on Haynesworth, unloading with huge shots while dodging the return fire from the mammoth 270+ lbs heavyweight. Torrez trapped Hayneswoth against the ropes, and unloaded with a series of hard shots, causing the referee Raul Caiz Jr. to step in and halt the fight.
Torrez Jr. was fortunate the fight ended early because he was badly out of breath at the end of the contest at 2:19 of round one. As he progresses in his career, he’s going to need to pace himself a little better because fighting like that against better heavyweights could result in him gassing out and getting stopped.
Torrez looks small for the heavyweight division, and he might need to move down to cruiserweight or bridgerweight. In the amateurs, Torrez struggled against the super heavyweights, losing twice to 6’7″ Bakhodir Jalolov. Torrez wasn’t big enough, and he could have similar problems once he gets in with a big heavyweight with ability.
Lightweight prospect Emiliano Vargas (9-0, 7 KOs) out-punched Nelson Hampton (10-9, 6 KOs) to win a six-round unanimous decision. The judges’ scores were 60-54, 60-54, and 60-54. The fight was more competitive than the wide scores, as Hampton landed a lot of shots on Vargas.
Undefeated middleweight Sergio Rodriguez (11-0-1, 8 KOs) beat Sanny Duversonne (12-7-2, 9 KOs) by a six-round unanimous decision. The scores were 60-54, 59-55, and 59-55.
In the chief support fight, IBF/WBA female minimumweight champion Seniesa Estrada (25-0, 9 KO) faces IBF/WBO champ Yokasta Valle (30-2, 9 KO) in a ten-round contest.
In preliminary action, lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (19-0, 16 KOs) fights Xolisani Ndongeni (31-4, 18 KOs) in a 10-round contest.