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World-Ranked Light Heavyweight Najee Lopez Stops Mexican
Terminator Manuel Gallego In Eight
Boxing fans. Forget wondering what the Fight of the Year for
2026 will be.
In a classic light heavyweight battle for the ages, WBA #7-,
IBF #13-, and WBC #15-ranked Najee Lopez stopped relentless
Mexican terminator Manuel Gallegos (22-3-1, 19 KOs) in eight
unforgettable rounds to win a blood-soaked battle for the
WBA Continental Americas & WBO Latino Light Heavyweight
Championships, tonight at Osceola Heritage Park in
Kissimmee, Florida.
Fighting in the heart-stopping 10-round main event, live on
ProBoxTV, Lopez (16-0, 13 KOs) of Ellenwood, Georgia, and
Gallegos (22-4-1, 19 KOs) of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico,
went to all-out war throughout a blood-and-guts showdown for
the ages.
The level of combat these two fighters reached is hard to
describe because it has seldom been attained by any other
matchup in memorable history. Skipping several unforgettable
moments and despite being dropped in an insane round seven,
Lopez recovered quickly and used his superior conditioning
to load up and finally put an end to the spirited effort of
the fearless Gallegos at 2:41 round eight.
“That just shows you I’m a true champion and I’m here to
stay,” said an overjoyed Lopez, post-fight. I’m willing to
prove it every time I step in the ring. He (Gallegos) was
the best version of himself possible. I fought a true
champion tonight. I’m not going to lie. That ring was small
and he’s a big guy. I felt not only his shots; I let his
presence. He came to win, but I showed I was there to win,
too. It came down to nutrition and willpower. We both had a
game plan, But I had more will.
“That’s a tough mf right there, continued Lopez. “Soon as I
had him on the hook, I wasn’t going to let him off. That was
100% of a test and I feel like I passed it.”
Undefeated Dominic Valle (13-0, 7 KOs) of Lutz, Florida, won
a controversial unanimous 10-round decision over Sinaloa,
Mexico’s Eduardo “Zurdito” Ramirez (29-6-3, 14 KOs) in the
night’s 10-round super featherweight co-featured bout.
Over the first four rounds, the battle-hardened Ramirez
outworked and overwhelmed the younger Valle, taking away his
room to punch and clubbing the youngster with both hands all
around the ring.
Ramirez staggered Valle in round five with a hook, but Valle
came back with his own firepower to stave off any thoughts
of a potential stoppage. Later in the same round, the brave
youngster Valle staggered Ramirez with an uppercut and
proceeded to batter him as payback throughout round six.
Ringside officials took a long look at Valle’s rapidly
closing right eye to start round seven but allowed the fight
to continue. Valle took advantage of the break by battering
Ramirez to the body, nipping round seven and, especially,
round eight.
After a tossup round nine, Ramirez came out for round 10 on
fire, throwing two-handed combinations to Valle’s head and
body.
In the end, the Florida judges ruled it 96-94, and two
debatably wide scores of 98-92 unanimously for Valle.
In the night’s first Contender Series matchup, Cleveland’s
undefeated light heavyweight Dante Benjamin (14-0-1, 9 KOs)
continued to show his world-class mettle by winning an
eight-round unanimous decision over formerly undefeated
Angel Lozano (8-1, 6 KOs) of Pomona, California.
With three back-and-forth rounds in the bank, the
sharpshooting Benajamin took control in round four, as his
long-range sniper shots exploded with improved frequency to
the head and body of the seemingly fading Lozano.
The surging Benjamin punished Lozano with sharp jabs in
round five, but to his credit, Lozano came back in round six
with several combinations behind an industrious jab and a
series of well-placed combinations.
Benjamin had the upper hand in the final two rounds and
pulled away by scores of 80-72, 77-75, and 78-74.
In a “bombs away” entertaining slugfest between two 100%
knockout punchers, New Orleans, Louisiana’s Delvin Mckinley
(14-5-1, 13 KOs) took a thrilling, upset majority, six-round
decision over Christian “Il Bambino” Chessa (6-1, 6 KOs) of
Lombardia, Italy.
After an even first round, McKinley hurt Chessa with an
uppercut in round two, creating a big swelling under his
left eye and drawing blood from the nose.
Chessa revealed an ability to box in round three, thwarting
the KO efforts of the heavy-handed McKinley by moving around
the ring.
Chessa continued to fight smartly in round four, landing
several strong body shots and winning the round with his
pinpoint counters. McKinley, however, and his aggressive
power shots, enjoyed a resurgence in rounds five and six,
landing several eye-catching combinations with Chessa’s left
eye closing rapidly.
In a typical ProBoxTV war, McKinley won the upset nod by
scores of 57-57, and two scores of 58-56.
To open the televised action, Lutz, Florida’s Kenyan Valle
(3-0, 1 KO) took a hard-fought six-round unanimous decision
over Anel Dudo (4-7-1, 1 KO) of Aurora, Colorado.
After a measured first round, seemingly controlled by the
more experienced Dudo, Valle found his footing in round two
with multi-punch combinations upstairs and down.
A stalking Dudo began to pressure Valle to improved effect
in round three. Dudo seemingly stunned Valle with an
uppercut that snapped his head back and lumped up the eye in
a strong round four.
Dudo’s activity picked up in round five, however, Valle’s
more accurate shots did an effective job thwarting his
aggression.
Dudo went for broke early in round six but ran into several
strong body shots to the liver from a still-fresh Valle, who
won the round to conclude the fight.
The scores were 59-55, 59-55, and 60-54 for Valle to stay
undefeated in his young career, earning a good learning
experience.
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