Results & Highlights: Oscar Valdez Dominates, KO’s Miguel Berchelt

Oscar Valdez was upset even with late money on Friday and Saturday, brutally knocking out Miguel Berchelt at the end of the 10th round to win the WBC junior lightweight title.

Valdez didn’t just knock out Berchelt, however, he dominated this fight, boxing almost perfectly from start to finish, putting on a career best performance in the biggest fight of his life, becoming a two-division champion in the process.

The judges had Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs) up 87-82, 88-81 and 89-80 when he landed a knockout monster shot in round 10, just before the bell to complete the frame. Bad Left Hook also brought him up 88-81.

Here are the highlights, including the finish:

Berchelt, to be clear, was permanently injured in the knockout, lost a few minutes, but got into a sitting position, communicated and was carried on a stretcher and rushed to hospital.

As for the fight, Valdez just had a perfect plan here, and executed beautifully. He was faster, sharper, faster – he had a great performance in this fight, and he proved a lot of people wrong, no doubt.

“There is nothing better in life than to prove that people are wrong. I had a list of people who doubted me. My idols doubted me. Boxing analysts doubted me, ”Valdez said. “They said Miguel Berchelt was going to knock me out. But I have a message to tell everyone: don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do. Always work hard and be disciplined in life. Try to do your best, stay disciplined, and don’t let anyone tell you there’s nothing you can do. Prove them wrong.

Valdez credited his team and family with helping him achieve victory.

“It was not easy to train in a pandemic, but try to make your dreams come true,” he says. “Always train hard, do your best, always try to be number one. Nothing is impossible. My team played an important role in all of this. “

Whether you called out the wrath or were like most of us and thought Berchelt (37-2, 33 KOs) would take this fight, there is nothing you can do but deeply respect what Valdez is. did here. He was, downright, the best man pretty much all night. He worked with a good, clean and fast jab, kept Berchelt completely uncomfortable the entire time, was smoother and faster and just the better fighter. Period.

Gabriel Flores Jr TKO-6 Jayson Velez

Photo by Mikey Williams / Top Rank Inc via Getty Images

20-year-old junior lightweight prospect Flores (20-0, 7 KOs) isn’t known for his power, but he flashed some here in the sixth round, dropping Velez on a shot to the temple that got him to do stinky leg after getting on his feet again.

The fight was basically there, but bless Velez (29-8-1, 21 KOs) he got up and threw what he had at Flores. It didn’t last longer, as Flores was happy biting and winging with the veteran at the time, knowing he could hurt him and he was already hurt. A left hook dropped 32-year-old Velez a second time, and referee Tony Weeks rightly called it off.

He said while doing the lap that Flores might not really ‘impress’ people, but it’s a really solid win for him, both beating a tough veteran and stopping him. Velez has only been stopped twice, in his last two fights (the other was Oscar Valdez last summer, and he gave Valdez a rough night), and maybe his resistance is starting to wane. crack, but it is a good result for the young man.

“I sent the declaration that I am ready for a world title,” said Flores. “I hit him and he didn’t know he was hit, that’s why he got hurt. Not that I was super powerful, but he didn’t see the blow coming. That’s why I hurt him. I could have done it earlier. I was playing with my food. Pops told me I just had to press it. Nothing was happening in those first five laps, to be honest. I felt it. I should have felt it only for two laps.

Flores doubled down by saying he was ready for a world title, specifically targeting the WBO belt.

“I’m ready for a world title,” he said. “I would love to have the winner from Jamel Herring and Carl Frampton. With each performance, I get better and better. I am looking for greatness.

Undercard results

Photo by Mikey Williams / Top Rank Inc via Getty Images

• Esquiva Falcao TKO-4 Artur Akavov: Falcao is 31 and won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics, and talks about taking a title shot on occasion, he says a lot, but has spent his entire professional seven-year career doing nothing make remarkable. Akavov (20-4, 9 KOs) twice defied the middleweight belts, giving Billy Joe Saunders a tough night in 2016 and failing to give Demetrius Andrade in 2019, and he is by far the best opponent in Falcao (28-0, 20 KOs). face.

This result probably looks more special than it is, although I’m not saying it looks awesome Anyway. It’s a great victory. Falcao was 39-37 ahead on our unofficial map, it looked like he would probably win, but Akavov’s corner stopped the fight between round four and five on a broken nose, and it was not a super clear broken nose or anything. Not to say he’s lying, just to say that no one is looking at him, like, “Oh, man, this guy’s nose is BUST.”

It would be nice if Falcao fought a legitimate contender or something next time around. It is high time for him to take his picture.

• Elvis Rodriguez UD-8 Luis Alberto Veron: Precious fight for Rodriguez, also precious to consider Rodriguez as a hope. He was a “bubble” favorite for Top Rank in particular, as he delivered some strong time reel knockouts and looked really strong, big puncher at 140. But Veron (18-3-2, 9 KO) had never been stopped, and still hasn’t been stopped, making a full eight with Rodriguez (11-0-1, 10 KOs) without ever getting in serious trouble.

Veron had the experience and intelligence to make Rodriguez think a lot more than usual, but Rodriguez responded well by not being able to knock over a guy either. He remained patient, worked without panicking at any time and won races instead of making big, overly aggressive mistakes. He took what he could get from Veron, didn’t force what wasn’t going to be there. When Veron got a little tired of it, Rodriguez landed more and he worked to make it happen.

“I think I have a very good experience. With each fight you gain something different, and for this fight I think the experience of going around really helped me, ”Rodriguez said through Bernardo Osuna’s translation. “I needed to let go of my hands a little more. When I did that, I was able to hurt her. But I think it was a great experience. He was never arrested, I knew it was going to be a challenge.

• Xander Zayas UD-6 James Martin: Now 18, Zayas (7-0, 5 KOs) was signed by Top Rank at 16, debuted at 17, and he’s a prospect they really like, which I guess the first part makes it obvious. After COVID hit, he stayed busy last fall with a few fights in Florida on All Star Boxing cards, but made his ‘bubble’ debut in Vegas with this one, winning all six rounds against Martin of Philly. (6-2, 0 KOs), who never really threatened to win the fight, but proved to be a valuable test. Martin managed to take Zayas past the fourth lap for the first time, walked the distance with him, gave him a few glances. Martin is a second generation fighter – his father is Jerry “The Bull” Martin, who did 25-7 from 1976 to 1984 and fought twice for the WBC light heavyweight title – and he has shown skill. and craftsmanship, giving the young prospect a fighting edge.

• Javier Martinez TKO-1 Billy Wagner: I had already seen Wagner (3-2, 1 KO), when he fought Matchroom prospect Alexis Espino in 2019. He took good shots in this fight, scrappy, covered a distance of four rounds. Martinez (3-0, 1 KO) bombarded him here, scoring a directed knockdown and then ending Wagner with a series of shots against the ropes, forcing the referee to intervene. Wagner had his complaints, but no, he was done, only what he had to do from there was hurt himself. Martinez, a former standout national amateur, is a 25-year-old middleweight prospect still early in his pro race, not a top-notch big type of guy, but a 6’1 ”left-handed middleweight with a good base of. skills, could be evolved faster at some point if her team decides they clicked on them and are ready to start building on them.

• Omar Rosario KO-2 Uriel Villanueva: Kind of an audition for two young fighters, and Rosario (3-0, 1 KO) definitely looked like the fighter to potentially pick up, as the 23-year-old Puerto Rican blew up Villanueva (1-1, 0 KOs), a Mexican -21-year-old American, with a pair of body kicks in the second. Villanueva tried to fight on the first knockdown, but Rosario went straight back to the body and scored the knockout of the tally.