Former featherweight world champion Oscar Valdez’s super featherweight debut was a doozy. Valdez (27-0, 21 KOs) got off the deck to stop late replacement Adam Lopez in seven rounds in a barnburner of a main event in front of a packed house at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
Valdez was knocked down in the second round, only to come back to knock down Lopez (13-2) with a left hook in the seventh. A follow-up barrage caused referee Russell Mora to stop the bout with seven seconds remaining in the round.
As this was a WBC world title eliminator, Valdez is now in line to face champion Miguel Berchelt, who was seated ringside.
Lopez took the bout Friday afternoon after Valdez’s original opponent, Andres Gutierrez, missed weight by 11 pounds.
“I was very surprised. I take my hat off to Adam Lopez. He’s a great fighter, great warrior, just like his father {the late Hector Lopez} was,” Valdez said. I just got hit. This is boxing. I prepared myself for two, three months for Gutierrez, but that’s no excuse. This kid is a warrior.
“Berchelt is a true champion inside the ring and outside the ring. Fans love him. That’s the one I want to fight. He has that WBC belt, and he’s trying to take it back home.”
Frampton Decisions McCreary
Former two-division world champion Carl “The Jackal” Frampton returned from a nearly one-year layoff to dominate the previously unbeaten Tyler “The Golden Child” McCreary via 10-round unanimous decision (100-88 3x) in the super featherweight co-feature.
Frampton (27-2, 15 KOs ) knocked down McCreary (16-1-1, 7 KOs) with a body shot in the sixth round and again in the ninth round with a pair of left hooks.
The scorecards were academic, and now Frampton hopes a showdown with WBO junior lightweight world champion Jamel Herring is in his future.
“I was happy. That was the plan, to target the body,” Frampton said. “Tyler is pretty tall. We’ve seen that he’s left gaps. My hand wasn’t great coming into the camp as well. It’s always a bit softer hitting the body than the head. I feel like I hurt it again in the second round, so that’s why it wasn’t the most exciting fight in the world, but I just cruised to a points win. I just wanted to be safe with my hands.
“I re-fractured the hand twice in camp, but I knew a lot of people were coming to support me. There was absolutely no way I wasn’t fighting. I know {Jamel} is the champ. I just want to fight for a world title next. I want to be involved in big fights. I would love the opportunity to fight Jamel. I’m not the champion. He’s the champion.”
Said Herring: “Wherever, whenever, I want to fight Carl Frampton. We’re under the same promotional umbrella, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Teixeira Captures Junior Middleweight World Title
Patrick Teixeira overcame brutal cuts to score a unanimous decision over Carlos Adames in a fight for the vacant interim WBO junior middleweight world title. Teixeira (31-1, 22 KOs) knocked down Adames (18-1, 14 KOs) in the seventh round and won the 12th round on two of three judges’ cards to prevail by scores of 116-111 and 114-113 2x.
“I felt like I needed to win the last round. It was a close fight. Every point was crucial, and I won the final round to win the fight,” Teixeira said. “It was tough with the cuts, but I was able to get through it because of my experience. It was a little harder, but my corner did an excellent job on the cuts.”
— Welterweight Xander Zayas (2-0, 2 KOs), the 17-year-old prodigy from San Juan, Puerto Rico, stopped Virgel Windfield (2-3-1, 2 KOs) at 1:48 of the opening round. Zayas scored a pair of knockdowns to end the fight.
“I felt ready to finish the fight early and came out very aggressively to do exactly that,” Zayas said. “I knew he was taller, so I wanted to pressure him to shorten the distance. I kept focused on working on the inside and managed to finish him quickly.”
— Arnold Barboza Jr. (23-0, 10 KOs) retained his Jr. NABF super lightweight belt, as he stopped veteran William Silva (27-3, 15 KOs) with a right hand to the body in the fifth round. Barboza, ranked fifth in the world by the WBO, is 3-0 with three knockouts in 2019.
— Larry Gomez (10-1, 8 KOs) handed welterweight prospect Brian Mendoza (18-1, 13 KOs) the first lost of his career, prevailing by split decision over eight toe-to-toe rounds. The scorecards were as followed: 77-75 Gomez, 77-75 Mendoza and 77-75 Gomez.
— Top heavyweight prospect Guido “The Gladiator” Vianello (6-0, 6 KOs) notched another quick KO, stopping Colby Madison (8-2-2, 5 KOs) with a right hand at 44 seconds of the opening round.
— Japanese super lightweight prospect Andy Hiraoka (15-0, 10 KOs) had a successful U.S. debut, knocking out Rogelio Casarez (13-9, 5 KOs) in the second round of a scheduled eight-rounder.
— Heavyweight prospect Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson (2-0, 2 KOs) knocked out Stephen Kirnon (2-3-1, 1 KO) at 1:30 of the opening round.
