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Venado Lopez Decisions Joet Gonzalez
To Retain Featherweight World Title
Photos: Mikey Williams - Top Rank
Luis Alberto “El Venado” Lopez (29-2, 16 KOs) kicked off
Mexican Independence Day Weekend by defending his IBF
Featherweight World Title against former two-time world
title challenger Joet Gonzalez (26-4, 15 KOs) Friday
evening at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi,
Texas.
Lopez hoped to become the first person to stop Gonzalez,
but he was met with a stiff challenge and refused to
take a backward step.
In the opening round, Gonzalez pressured Lopez with
punches to the body. By rounds three and four, though,
Lopez found his distance and began using his legs to set
up shots from the outside.
Gonzalez’s high guard made it difficult for Lopez to
connect with his signature leaping punches, but
occasional counter punches on the inside kept Gonzalez
from gaining momentum.
Lopez seemed to fade in the later rounds, and Gonzalez,
with a sense of urgency, began pressuring Lopez as he
did in the opening round.
However, it was not enough to win the fight. Lopez
retained his belt with scores of 118-110, 117-111 and
116-112.
Lopez said, “We knew that Joet Gonzalez is a very
dangerous fighter. He never stops attacking. He can take
anything you throw at him. We knew that’s what he came
to do and that he came with a lot of hunger to take the
title away from me, but I also am very hungry to remain
champion.
“I hurt him. I saw that I hurt him. But, as I’ve said,
he’s a warrior who can take anything you throw at him,
even the bucket. He is still standing, and my respects
to him.
“It was a very close fight. We know that Joet Gonzalez
was coming forward. He wouldn’t take a step back. I know
it was a tough fight, but I know that I won.”
Gonzalez said, “I thought the scores should have been a
little closer. Overall, I am very disappointed in my
performance. I felt that I could have done a lot better.
By far, this is the worst performance of my title
fights, even though I prepared to the fullest. I am
truly disappointed in my performance.
“I felt like in the other world title fights I did
better. I felt like I got hit less. I did feel like I
landed some good shots, but I feel like I’ve could have
done a lot better.”
Zayas Authors Career-Best Win over Valenzuela
Puerto Rican junior middleweight phenom Xander Zayas
(17-0, 10 KOs) scored a fifth-round TKO victory against
hard-hitting Mexican Roberto Valenzuela Jr. (21-5, 20
KOs) in tonight’s co-feature.
Zayas dropped Valenzuela with a hard jab in the opening
round. Valenzuela got back up, only to suffer another
knockdown before the round ended. In rounds two and
three, Zayas worked off his back foot, landing quick
combos from the outside. A left hand in round three
caused a cut on Valenzuela’s nose.
The cut bled profusely, but referee Mark Nelson allowed
Valenzuela to continue fighting. However, Zayas
continued landing vicious punches to Valenzuela's nose,
forcing Nelson to halt the contest at :42 of the fifth
round.
Zayas said, “I didn’t think he was going to stop
bleeding from his nose. When I went to my corner, I told
my dad {assistant trainer Orlando Garcia} that his nose
was really bad. So, we knew that it was a matter of
time.
“I came here to accomplish a goal. I came here to let
everybody know at 154 pounds that I’m coming for
everything. They said he was a power puncher, and I
dominated tonight. I’m a contender now at 154 pounds.
Whenever Top Rank gives me the opportunity, I’ll be
ready for a world title. All my respect to Roberto. He
was a warrior like I knew he was going to be."
In other action:
Unbeaten lightweight sensation Emiliano Fernando Vargas
(7-0, 6 KOs) made his ESPN-televised debut with a
spectacular third-round TKO win against Alejandro
Guardado (5-1, 1 KO).
In the opening round, Vargas calmly evaded shots with
quick head movement before sneaking uppercuts through
Guardado’s guard. He pressured Guardado in the second
round, but Guardado responded with offense of his own.
Vargas then landed a counter left hook in the third
round that initiated a flurry that forced referee Lee
Rogers to end the fight at 1:07.
Vargas said, "We're just going to work in there. It’s a
beautiful thing to be here with all my beautiful Mexican
fans. I love what I do. I get up early in the morning
and it’s not work. I can’t wait to be back.”
Welterweight: In an all-Mexican showdown, Julio Luna
(21-1-2, 11 KOs) toppled Omar Aguilar (25-2, 24 KOs) to
capture the vacant WBC USA welterweight title. Aguilar
was aggressive early, but Luna's distance made it hard
for him to land cleanly. In the fourth, Aguilar found
success on the inside, but Luna overcame the onslaught
with longer punches. Scores: 79-73, 78-74, and 77-75.
Welterweight: John Rincon (8-0, 2 KOs) beat Bryan Ismael
Rodriguez Rivera (4-2-1, 2 KOs) via unanimous decision
in front of a hometown crowd. The bout was a cautious
affair, but Rincon pulled away with effective
aggression. Scores: 60-54 2x and 58-56.
Junior Welterweight: Jamaine Ortiz (17-1-1, 8 KOs)
overcame an almost one-year layoff to defeat Antonio
Moran (29-6-1, 20 KOs) via unanimous decision. Moran
hurt Ortiz early, but Ortiz got his rhythm by the middle
rounds and wobbled Moran in the sixth round. A game
Moran was aggressive in the later rounds, but it was not
enough to overcome Ortiz's quick counterpunching. Ortiz
was coming off last October's valiant stand against
Vasiliy Lomachenko. Scores: 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.
Featherweight: Former world title challenger Ruben Villa
IV (21-1, 7 KOs) tallied a workmanlike eight-round
unanimous decision against Brandon Valdes (15-4, 7 KOs).
Valdes started strong by finding a home for his right
uppercut. Villa, however, figured him out and out-landed
the Colombian in nearly every exchange. Scores: 78-74
3x.
Junior Welterweight: U.S. Olympian Tiger Johnson (10-0,
5 KOs) scored a majority decision victory against
Ricardo Quiroz (13-3, 7 KOs). Scores: 76-76 and 79-73
2x.
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