The David Benavidez vs Caleb Plant telecast saw a closely-contested battle of rising young contenders as Chris Colbert edged out Jose Valenzuela.
Sadly, “Primetime” was showered with boos as he left the MGM Grand after winning on the scorecards after ten rounds of lightweight action.
All three judges saw the fight 95-94 in favor of Colbert, who stated his willingness to give Valenzuela a rematch in his post-fight interview.
Chris Colbert is no sucker
“Listen, I love the fans,” said Colbert. “If he wants a rematch, then let’s get it. I’m no sucker.”
Colbert, who also came into the fight off his first loss, showed his grit in rising to his feet after a knockdown. He made it through the round with significant time left in the frame.
The Brooklyn native Colbert could box effectively throughout the remainder of the fight. He avoided a return trip to the mat, using a jab he out-landed Valenzuela with at a 47 to 15 clip.
The middle rounds saw tremendous back-and-forth action from both competitors. After Valenzuela spent much of round six blitzing Colbert and forcing him to the ropes, Colbert responded in round seven with effective movement and potshots.
After Valenzuela was again successful in pushing Colbert to the ropes in round eight, Colbert responded smartly and fought at an adequate distance in round nine.
In the final round, Valenzuela appeared to punctuate a victory by hurting Colbert in the closing seconds with a volley of power shots. Still, he was ultimately edged on all three cards before calling for a rematch with Colbert.
“It was a hell of a fight,” said Colbert. “At the end of the day, I’m not the judge. I’m not a sore loser. I am a man. I can take it on the chin like a man.
“He’s a sore loser. I out-boxed him and hit him with more jabs. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a man, and he had his spurts.
“He hit me with some good shots, but then he stopped. I jabbed, and I jabbed, and I jabbed. He got the knockdown, but it’s a ten-round fight.”
Jose Valenzuela
Valenzuela didn’t agree.
“I beat him,” he said. “I want to thank everyone who came out here to support me. But I thought I had won. I was hitting him with the more complex shots. I dropped him, and I dominated. But it is what it is.
“He over-extended, and I caught him with a left hook [dropped him]. He didn’t hurt me once in this fight.
“I was having fun, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I won, and I had fun. But I wanted to show the world what I could do. I can box, and I can bang.
“But I felt like I put it on him. I want a rematch. We have to be fair and square. I went through a lot. I worked hard. It was tough, and coming out as this sucks.”
Before the pay-per-view, streamed live on the Showtime YouTube channel, unbeaten super bantamweight contender Kevin Gonzalez earned a unanimous decision [99-91, 98-92, 97-93] after ten rounds of action against Colombia’s Jose Sanmartin.
The live-streaming presentation also saw Cuban contender Orestes Velazquez keep his unbeaten record intact with a unanimous decision victory over Argentina’s Marcelino Lopez (37-3-1, 22 KOs).
He boxed effectively across ten super lightweight rounds to earn the nod by scores of 99-91 twice and 97-93.
