Valero Annihilates Zavaleta

Making his third defense of his World Boxing Association super featherweight title, Edwin Valero (23-0-0 23 KOs) brutally destroyed challenger Zaid Zavaleta in the 3rd round of a scheduled 12-round title bout tonight at the Plaza de Toros, in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Valero knocked Zavaleta down late in the 1st round, and rocked him in the 3rd, leading to referee Luis Pabon stopping the fight at 1:18 of the 3rd round. Valero, 26, controlled the fight from the onset, attacking Zavaleta with blistering right-left combinations and overwhelming him with punches throughout.

Rarely did the southpaw Valero stop punching and when he did stop punching, it was mostly due to clinching on Zavaleta’s part. It took Valero several moments to get his rhythm in the first round, as he initially missed a number of shots, leading to clinches. However, it wasn’t long before he was finding a home for his powerful left hand shots, which Zavaleta was helpless to avoid. For his part, Zavaleta rarely landed a blow, mostly because he lacked sufficient handspeed and counter punching ability that would enable him to get a shot in.

At the end of the first round, Valero dropped Zavaleta with big right hand. The knockdown was made easier because Zavaleta carelessly spent much of the round against the ropes, almost helpless to avoid incoming fire from Valero.

In the 2nd round, Valero staggered Zavaleta with a big left hand in the opening moments of the round, causing Zavaleta to grab onto Valero to avoid getting hit again. Zavaleta appeared to never recover from the shot, as Valero spent the next two minutes raining unanswered shots down on Zavaleta. At the end of the round, both of Zavaleta’s eyes where swelling up from the punishment that he had received from Valero in the round.

In the 3rd round, Valero continued where he left off, tagging Zavaleta with shots, mostly left hands, and driving him around the ring. Finally the end came when Valero connected with a right hand that badly stunned Zavaleta, causing him to dip down, completely out on his feet from the shot. Before Valero could land a finishing shot, the referee Luis Pabon moved in and quickly stopped it at 1:18 to prevent Zavaleta from getting seriously hurt.