By Mark Eisner: Oscar Valdez (27-0, 21 KOs) surprisingly was dropped by replacement opponent Adan Lopez (13-2, 6 KOs), but he was still able to defeat him by a 7th round knockout in his debut at 130 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Lopez knocked Valdez down in the 2nd round with a left to the head. The fight was a WBC 130-lb title eliminator.
Following the knockdown, Lopez continued to give Valdez a lot of problems with his speedy combinations, movement and excellent defensive skills.
In the 7th, Valdez turned the tables in knocking him down. Lopez got up off the deck, but moments later the referee Russell Mora called a stop to the fight. The fight was stopped officially at 2:53 of round 7. Mora was a tad quick with the stoppage. He could have let it gone on, because Lopez deserved to be given the chance to try and survive.
Former WBO featherweight champion Valdez will be challenging WBC super featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt next. Without question, Valdez needs to fight a lot better if he wants to beat to bear Berchelt.
Carl Frampton schools Tyler McCreary
In a mismatch, Carl Frampton (27-2, 15 KOs) did what everyone expected him to in easily beating an overmatched 2nd tier fighter Tyler McCreary (16-1-1, 7 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision in his debut at super featherweight. The scores were 100-88, 100-88, 100-88.
This was a good bounce back win for Frampton. He had lost his last fight to IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington last December.
Frampton dropped McCreary twice
Former two division world champion Frampton, 32, knocked the 27-year-old American McCreary down twice in the fight in dropping him in round 6 and 9. Both knockdowns by Frampton were from body shots. Frampton had his best success when he went down to the body of McCreary, who wasn’t able to take his shots when he targeted downstairs.
Now with the win, Frampton is supposed to be challenging WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring for his title in early 2020. Top Rank Boxing promotes both fighters, so there won’t be a problem putting the fight together
Arnold Barboza Jr. defeats William Silva
Undefeated Light welterweight contender Arnold Barboza Jr. (23-0, 10 KOs) stopped William Silva (27-3, 15 kOs) in the 5th round.
Barboza Jr., 27, knocked Silva down in the 3rd and 5th. Fight was stopped at 2:59 of round 5.
Xander Zayas stops Virgel Windfield
Unbeaten welterweight prospect Xander Zayas (2-0, 2 KOs) beat Virgel Windfield (2-3-1, 2 KOs) by a 1st round knockout. Zayas, 17, put Windfield down twice. The fight was halted at 1:48 of round one. Both knockdowns were the result of right hands from the 11-time amateur champion Zayas.
Larry Gomez edges Brian Mendoza
Welterweight Larry Gomez (10-1, 8 KOs) defeated Brian Mendoez (18-1, 13 KOs) by an eight round split decision. The scores were 77-75 Mendoza, 77-75, 77-75 Gomez.
Guido Vianello KOs Colby Madison
Undefeated 2016 Olympian heavyweight prospect Guido Vianello (6-0, 6 KOs) blasted out an over-matched Colby Madison (8-2-2, 5 KOs) by a 1st round knockout. The big punching Vianello dropped Madison with a hard right to the head. The fight was then halted.
Andy Hiraoka stops Rogelio Casarez
Light welterweight prospect Andy Hiraoka (15-0, 10 KOs) stopped Rogelio Casarez (13-9, 5 KOs) in the 2nd round. Hiraoka put Casarez down with a hard shot. He then unloaded on him until the referee stopped the contest.
Patrick Teixeira decisions Carlos Adames
In an exciting fight, #2 154-lb contender Patrick Teixeira (31-1, 22 KOs) beat the hard hitting Carlos Adames (18-1, 14 KOs) by a 12 round majority decision to win the interim World Boxing Organization junior middleweight title.
The scores were 116-111, 114-113, 114-113. Boxing News 24 scoed it 116-111 for Teixeira . It was a fight that Adames could have won if his defense and gas tank were better.
In rounds one through six, it looked as if Adames was going to cruise to an easy victory, as he was taking the fight to Teixeira and getting the better of him. Teixeira looked like he was in danger of getting stopped early on.
Teixeira was bleeding and looking battered going into the second half of the fight. Just going by his appearance, and he was getting worked, it looked like Adames was going to cruise the rest of the way. Round 7 proved to be a crucial round in which Teixeira hurt Adames, and had him on the verge of being stopped.
The fight changed at that point, as Adames started fighting more conservatively knowing that he couldn’t afford to keep getting hit hard by Teixeira . However, he still did an excellent job of boxing in the round, and fighting smart.
Teixeira made adjustments in round 9 by making sure that Adames didn’t get near enough to him to land his big power shots from that pioint.