Results and highlights: Oscar Valdez dominates, Miguel Berchelt, KO

Oscar Valdez drew a strong upset, even with late money coming in on Friday and Saturday, and Miguel Berchelt violently knocked out at the end of the 10th round to win the WBC lightweight title.

Not only did Valdez knock out Berchelt, but he dominated this fight, and he was perfectly in the box from start to finish, delivering a clear career-best performance in the biggest fight of his life and in the process. ‘ became a two-division champion.

Judges raised Valdez (29-0, 23 KO) 87-82, 88-81 and 89-80 when he landed a monster KO shot in the 10th round, just before the clock to hit the frame. end. Bad Left Hook also made it 88-81.

Here are the highlights, including the finish:

To be clear, Berchelt was definitely hurt at the KO, was off for a few minutes, but did stand up to a sitting position, was communicating and was taken out of the drill and rushed to a hospital.

As for the fight, Valdez just had a perfect plan here and executed beautifully. He was faster, sharper, faster – he had an excellent performance in this fight, and he proved that many people are wrong, no doubt.

“There is nothing better in life than to prove people wrong. I had a list of people who doubted me. My idols doubted me. Top analysts doubted me, “said Valdez. “They said Miguel Berchelt was going to knock me out. But I got a message to say to everyone: Do not let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. Always work hard and be disciplined in life. Try to do your best, stay disciplined and never let anyone tell you that you can not do something. Prove them wrong. ”

Valdez attributed his team and family to helping him achieve the victory.

“It was not easy to practice in a pandemic, but try to go after your dreams,” he said. ‘Always practice hard, do your best, always try to be number one. Nothing is impossible. My team was a big part of this. ”

Whether you mention the upset or as most of us are and think Berchelt (37-2, 33 KO) will fight this battle, you can do nothing but respect Valdez deeply here. He was, frankly, the better man all night. He works with a good, sharp, fast jab, keeps Berchelt completely uncomfortable, was smoother and faster and just the better fighter. Period.

Gabriel Flores Jr TKO-6 Jayson Velez

Miguel Berchelt Teen Oscar Valdez - Fight Night

Photo by Mikey Williams / Top Rank Inc via Getty Images

The 20-year-old junior lightweight prospect, Flores (20-0, 7 KO), is not known for his strength, but he flashed here in the sixth round and dropped Velez on a temple shot that left him with the stinky leg do has returned to his feet.

The fight was basically there, but blessing Velez (29-8-1, 21 KO), he stood up and threw what he had to Flores. Did not last much longer, for Flores was happy at that point to bite the veteran with the veteran, knowing that he could hurt him and that he had already been hurt. A left hook dropped 32-year-old Velez a second time, and referee Tony Weeks rightly dismissed it.

He said he did the rounds that Flores would not really ‘wow’ people, but it was a good win for him, just to beat a tough veteran and to stop him. Velez has only been stopped twice in his last two fights (the other one was Oscar Valdez last summer, and he gave Valdez a tough night), and maybe his resistance is cracking some, but that’s a good thing. result for the young man.

“I sent the statement that I was ready for a world title,” Flores said. “I beat him and he did not know he was being beaten, so he was hurt. Not that I was super powerful, but he did not see the shot coming. That’s why I hurt him. I could have done it sooner. I played with my food. Pops told me I should just print it. Nothing was going on in the first five rounds, to be honest. I felt it. I should have just felt it two rounds. ”

Flores has doubled down, saying he’s ready for a world title, focusing specifically on the WBO band.

“I’m ready for a world title recording,” he said. ‘I would like to find the winner of Jamel Herring and Carl Frampton. Every performance gets better and better. I pursue greatness. ”

Undercard results

Miguel Berchelt Teen Oscar Valdez - Fight Night

Photo by Mikey Williams / Top Rank Inc via Getty Images

  • Esquiva Falcao TKO-4 Artur Akavov: Falcao is 31 years old and won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics. He talks about the fact that he shot a title on occasion, but he did his entire seven-year career in the career of nothing. Akavov (20-4, 9 KO) has twice challenged for middleweight bands, giving Billy Joe Saunders a tough night in 2016 and Demetrius Andrade not giving one in 2019, and he is by far the best opponent Falcao (28- 0, 20 KO).

This result probably looks more special than it is, although I’m not saying it looks wonderful anyway. This is a good win. Falcao was 39-37 on our unofficial map, it looked like he was likely to win, but Akavov’s corner stopped the fight between the fourth and fifth rounds on a broken nose, and it was not a super clear broken nose or something. He did not say he was lying, but just no one looked at it, like, “Oh, man, the guy’s nose is BUSTED.”

Would be nice if Falcao would fight a legitimate competitor or something next time. It’s past the time he takes his shot.

  • Elvis Rodriguez UD-8 Luis Alberto Veron: Valuable struggle for Rodriguez, also valuable to consider Rodriguez as a prospect. He was especially a “bubble” favorite for Top Rank, as he delivered peak knockout blows and looked very strong at 140. However, he was never stopped and Veron (18-3-2, 9 KO), and still not stopped, and he had a full eight with Rodriguez (11-0-1, 10 KO) without ever getting into serious problems to come.

Veron had the experience and sounding skills to make Rodriguez think much more than normal, but Rodriguez responded well to the fact that he could not bowl a guy either. He remained patient, worked at no point without panicking, and won laps instead of making big, overly aggressive mistakes. He takes what he can get from Veron, not forcing what is not going to be there. When Veron got tired of some, Rodriguez landed more and he worked to get there.

‘I think I had a very good experience. ‘Every fight you get something different, and for this fight, I think, the experience of the round actually helped me,’ Rodriguez said through Bernardo Osuna’s translation. ‘I had to let go of my hands a little more. When I did, I could hurt him. But I think it was a wonderful experience. He was never stopped, I knew it was going to be a challenge. ”

  • Xander Zayas UD-6 James Martin: Now 18, Zayas (7-0, 5 KO) were signed by Top Rank at 16, debuted at 17, and are a prospect that they really like a lot, which I think makes the first part clear. After hitting COVID last fall, he kept a few fights in Florida on All Star Boxing cards, but he made his “bubble” debut in Vegas with this one, winning all six rounds against Philly’s Martin ( 6-2, 0 KO), who never really threatened to win the battle, but was a valuable test. Martin was able to take Zayas past the fourth round for the first time, went the distance with him, watched him a bit. Martin is a second-generation fighter – his father is Jerry “The Bull” Martin, who was 25-7 from 1976-84 and fought twice for the WBC light heavyweight title – and he showed skills and abilities, which the young prospect gave useful fighting.
  • Javier Martinez TKO-1 Billy Wagner: I already saw Wagner (3-2, 1 KO) when he battled Matchroom prospect Alexis Espino in 2019. He took some good shots in the fight, scrapping, at a distance of four rounds. Martinez (3-0, 1 KO) bombarded him here, scored a decisive result and then rounded off Wagner with a series of shots against the ropes, forcing the referee to intervene. Wagner had his complaints, but no, he was done, just something he had to do from there hurt. Martinez, a former national amateur standout, is a 25-year-old middleweight prospect who is still early in his pro run, not a big old man, but a 6’1 “Southpaw middleweight with good skills.contracted at some point faster when his team decided to click and he was ready to raise a few.
  • 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 possibly pick up, as the 23-year-old Puerto Rico knocked out Villanueva (1-1, 0 KO). a 21-year-old Mexican-American, with a few body shots in the second. Villanueva tried to fight from the first time, but Rosario went straight to the body and recorded the knockout blow.

Source