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Oscar Valdez Raises His Record to 23-0

By Joshua “City” Brewer (At Ringside)

Friday, September 22nd, was a boxing night for the ages. As a part of their new deal with ESPN, Top Rank Promotions put on another outstanding card live from Tucson Arena in Tucson, Arizona, that was competitive from top to bottom. The marquee fight of the night featured battle of the undefeated as Oscar Valdez, 23-0, 19 KO’s, took Genesis Servania, 29-1, 12 KO’s. The World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight title held by Valdez was on the line. Ringside Report was live at Ringside to follow the action from the opening bell.

In round one, both fighters felt each other out early testing the other’s Jab. Valdez though, was able to get in some clean body work. Valdez landed two hard left hooks to the Servania’s head in the second to go along with more sound body work. In the fourth round Valdez when down from a left hook to right hand combination, the first knockdown of his career. Valdez was able to answer the count but was hurt again by Servania prior to the end of the round and looked as though he was in real trouble. In the fifth, Valdez was again hurt from a combination from Servania and looked to be still feeling the effects of the damage sustained in the prior round when he suddenly dropped Servania with a hammer of a left hook that sent him crashing to the canvas. Servania got up and was clearly still hurt but able to answer the count. Valdez started to hone in for the stoppage landing hard blows but Servania remained completely game and answered back with his own hard shots.

As the rounds wore on both fighters had prime moments when they looked to be taking the lead in exciting, nail biting action. Servania never backed down and repeatedly tested The of Valdez. Valdez did a good job of boxing and moving to clearly win the 11th round and seemed to frustrate Servania. Valdez landed a couple of good shots to end that round. Both fighters gave their all in the 12th to cap off what is sure to be a fight of the year candidate. The fighters stood their ground and unloaded on each other after the ‘10 seconds’ notice. The crowd cheered them on and gave them a standing ovation that lasted well after the final bell.

When the cards were read the fight officially went down as a unanimous decision victory for Valdez with scores of 116-110, 119-111, and 117-109 from the judges. Regardless of the scores the fight was a lot closer than they indicated and truly don’t tell the story of how much trouble Servania was for Valdez, and Valdez rose to the occasion. That aside, this was a fight that both fighters will grow from and I would love to see each of these fighters in action again.

The co-featured bout was one to remember as well and featured another battle of undefeated fighters when Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, 36-0, 24 KO’s, put his World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight strap on the line against Philadelphia’s Jesse “Hard Work” Hart, 22-1, 18 KO’s. Hart opened up the bout with a lot of lateral movement and got in several good shots on the stalking Ramirez. In the second round, Ramirez caught Hart with a hard right near the ropes followed by a left hook that sent him to the canvas. Hart was staggering as he answered the count and continued to get pounded for the remainder of the round. Hart went down from a low blow in round three forcing the referee to warn Ramirez. Ramirez was able to hurt Hart again with a shot at the end of the round and looked to have all of the momentum up to that point. In the fourth round Ramirez continued to open up with ferocious body shots that force Hart to tie him up several times. There were several stretches where Ramirez landed combinations of unanswered shots through the round.

Ramirez continued to invest in the body work during rounds five through six, though Hart did start to offer some resistance in spurts. Hart remained game and had his best round since the first in the eighth and looked to be gaining strength as the rounds wore on. Hart started and finished the ninth round strong as well but Ramirez was able to hurt him to the body midway through the round. Hart started out the 11th moving through he was seemingly down on the cards and in need of something big. He eventually was able to land the best punch of the round near the end of the round. Hart came out strong in the 12th and final round and was met with equal force from Ramirez. Each fighter had their moments in exchanges but Ramirez landed a snapping blow that hurt Hart and forced the two into an exchange that ended only when the final bell sounded in what turned out to be an excellent fight. Officially, the judges scored the fight 115-112 twice, and 114-113 giving Ramirez the unanimous decision victory. Ramirez showed that he is the top force at 168 pounds while Hart showed a tremendous amount of heart, no pun intended. Both fighters will benefit from this fight and in my eyes are still the top two fighters within the division. That said, I’m sure the winner of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) will have something to say about that.

The opening bout for the televised portion of the card featured fan favorite and 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist Michael Conlan, 4-0, 4 KO’s, of Northern Ireland, as he took on Kenny Guzman, 3-1, 1 KO. The first round saw several good exchanges from each fighter. Conlan played the role of aggressor as Guzman did good work countering in what was an intense first round. Conlan started the second with three hooks to the body. Conlan then hurt Guzman with a hard right near the end of round two and Guzman chose to fight fire with fire. With merely a second left in the round, Conlan caught Guzman with an earth-moving right hook that dropped him flat on his back. Guzman was somehow able to stand up on wobbly legs but the referee halted the contest giving Conlan the highlight reel knockout at 2:59 of round two. Both fighters deserve respect for the short work they did put in. Conlan has a very bright future and be rest assured that you will see him on television again very soon as it was announced that Conlan will fight on the Top Rank December 9th card featuring Vasyl Lomachenko Vs Guillermo Rigondeaux clash.

As a part of the Top Rank streamed fights, Brazil’s 2016 Olympic Gold medalist Robson Conceicao, 5-0, 4 KO’s took on Carlos Osorio, 13-8-1, 5 KO’s. The first round started quickly for Conceicao as he used his athleticism to land clean shots on Osorio. Osorio landed a couple of good body shots near the end of the round as well. As the rounds continued it was clear that Conceicao was the more mobile fighter and utilized his reach very well. Osorio didn’t answer the bell for round four due to an injury. The fight was stopped giving Conceicao the technical knockout victory.

Lithuanian standout Egidijus Kavaliauskas, 18-0, 15 KO’s looked very sharp in his fight with Mahonry Montes, 33-7-1, 22 KO’s. Both fighter fought patient in the first, throwing shots sparingly. Kavaliauskas landed an excellent flurry of combinations early in the second and finished the round with a similar flurry. The fifth round saw the two fighters in a heavy exchange. Montes took a lot of punishment and there was visible damage to his face. In the fifth round Montes had to have his eyes checked by the doctors as his right eye was all but completely swollen shut. The fight continued on and Montes continued to take shots before the referee officially stopped the fight early in the seventh round giving Kavaliauskas the technical knockout victory. Egidijus Kavaliauskas is a name that we’re sure to see again in the near future.

2016 United States Olympian Mikaela Mayer, 2-0, 2 KO’s made her presence known in a dominant technical knockout victory against an overmatched Allison “Boom Boom” Martinez, 1-3, 1 KO. Mayer used her jab early to set up shots from the outside in the first round. Mayer landed a combination capped by a hard right that dropped Martinez. She was visibly hurt but able to answer the count. When the action resumed Mayer started to tee off repeatedly, wobbling Martinez several times though she was able to last through the bell. More punishment ensued for Martinez in the second round and she was barely able to make it through, though she did show toughness by remaining standing. In the third, Mayer dropped Martinez again early in the round. After the referee’s count, the corner for Martinez stepped in to call off the fight at 00:39 of the third round. Surely keep Mayer on your radar.

2016 Olympic Gold Medalist from Uzbekistan, Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, 3-0, 1 KO, looked ripped and ready in his fight with Victor Rosas, 9-7, 3 KO’s. Gaibnazarov used his skill to repeatedly outland the game but overmatched Rosas. Gaibnazarov landed several good overhand lefts in the second as Rosas tried to answer back with any shot he could. As the fight wore on Gaibnazarov continued to box from the outside while using his defense to keep Rosas at bay. In the end, Gaibnazarov won wide unanimous decision with scores of 80-72 from all judges.

The opening fight of the card featured a welterweight contest between Leonardo Zappavigna, 36-3, 26 KO’s Vs Fidel Monterrosa, 38-14-1, 30 KO’s. Both fighters jockeyed for position early with Zappavigna eventually landing a sharp double left hook combination. Monterrosa had to be warmed by the red to keep his punches up. In the second round Monterrosa went down from what was considered a shot to back of the head. He spent several seconds on the ground but eventually resumed fighting. Both fighters landed heavy shots in a flurry before the end of round two. Zappavigna dropped Monterrosa with a hard overhand right midway through round three. Monterrosa answered the count but went down from twisted ankle and the referee ruled it a knockdown. Monterosa again answered the count but looked unsteady. Zappavigna once again pounced on Monterrosa and during an exchange Monterrosa went down once and was wincing in pain shaking his ankle. The referee decided to stop the fight and officially it went down as a technical knockout victory for Zappavigna at 2:48 of round three.

The night was bubbling from start to finish and the fans were treated to boxing at its finest. Top Rank Promotions have certainly had the fans in mind with the matchmaking for this new deal. This further cements 2017 as a glamor year for the sport and we’ve still got a ton of action to come before the year finishes. I’ll be tune in, no question. You, as the fans, should tune in and witness fights you’ve been dealing for years, on basic cable and free TV.

As always, continue to make Ringside Report your first stop as we will continue to bring you the latest and greatest of the sweet science.

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