Oscar Valdez scored the most horrific knockout of recent memory with a devastating left hand to halt Miguel Berchelt and lay him out cold.
Valdez and Berchelt promised an all-Mexican clash for the ages. They delivered.
The challenger knocked out Berchelt with a left hook at the end of the 10th round to win the WBC super featherweight world title from Berchelt, making his seventh title defense.
The hook crumpled Berchelt, who fell face-first to the canvas, and referee Russell Mora immediately waved off the fight.
Berchelt (38-2, 34 KOs) was badly hurt and knocked down in the fourth but steadied himself and continued to pressure Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs) throughout the middle rounds.
Valdez turned the tide once again in the ninth with a knockdown. With the 10th round in hand, he lowered the boom.
Valdez said, “There’s nothing better in life than proving people wrong. I have a list of people who doubted me. My idols questioned me, and boxing analysts doubted me.
Mikey Williams
“They said Berchelt was going to knock me out. I have a message to everybody: Don’t’ let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do.
“I want to take this belt home, and I’m happy for that. Any champion out there. I heard Shakur Stevenson intends to fight. Let’s do it.
“I just want to keep on fighting and give the fans what they want.”
Berchelt spent time in hospital after the defeat as a precaution.
.@oscarvaldez56 HAS DONE IT!!!!!
An explosive left hand at the bell in Round 10 closes a masterful performance, and he is now a 2-time world champion! ????????????#BercheltValdez | #AndTheNew | ESPN pic.twitter.com/HFw8eT7Mqm
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 21, 2021
OSCAR VALDEZ Co-Feature
It’s time to crown Stockton’s King. Gabriel Flores Jr., the junior lightweight sensation from Stockton, California, made an emphatic statement, knocking out former world title challenger Jayson Velez in the sixth round.
Flores (20-0, 7 KOs) knocked down Velez twice in the sixth, punctuating the victory with a left hook.
He became only the second man to stop Velez (29-8-1, 20 KOs), who was knocked out in 10 rounds by Oscar Valdez last July.
Flores said, “I could’ve done it earlier. I was playing with my food. {Trainer Gabriel Flores Sr.} told me I had to press it. Nothing was going on those first five rounds, to be honest. I was feeling him out.
“I would love to get the winner of Jamel Herring and Carl Frampton. I’d love that. I’m going to keep working, and my performances will get better and better.”
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