Ringside at the Cosmo: Frampton Wins Impressively; Valdez TKOs Lopez

Ringside at the Cosmo: Frampton Wins Impressively; Valdez TKOs Lopez

LAS VEGAS, NV — The Chelsea Theater at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas is one of the better fight venues in the country. The seats in the tiered rows in the balcony provide an excellent view of the action; there isn’t a bad seat in the joint.

Dull fights can spoil the ambiance, but Bob Arum’s Top Rank organization presented a strong card that delivered good entertainment throughout.

Valdez-Lopez

Oscar Valdez, a two-time Olympian for Mexico, made his first foray into the 130-pound class tonight after seven successful defenses of his WBO featherweight title. In the opposite corner was late sub Adam Lopez who was on the card and bumped into the main go when Valdez’s opponent came in 11 pounds overweight at Friday’s weigh-in.

In round two, Lopez took a leaf from Cinderella and knocked Valdez down hard with a short left uppercut after missing with an overhand right. For a moment, it seemed that a mammoth upset was brewing. But Valdez returned the favor in the seventh frame with a blistering overhand right that knocked Lopez down and almost through the ropes. Lopez beat the count but absorbed a series of unanswered punches, compelling referee Russell Mora to intervene. The official time was 2:53 of round seven.

Valdez improved to 27-0 with his 21st stoppage, but he earned his pay. At the end, he had a big welt under his left eye. The plucky Lopez fell to 13-2.

Frampton-McCreary

In the co-main, Northern Ireland’s Carl Frampton, coming off a loss to Josh Warrington and an 11-month break elongated by a freak injury to his left hand, looked very sharp in winning a lopsided 10-round decision over Tyler McCreary.

Frampton’s game plan was to target the midsection of McCreary who had a four-inch height advantage. He implemented the plan to perfection. In round five he sank McCreary with a right-left combo, both to the body. In round nine, McCreary went down again from a fast 1-2, both lefts, to the liver. The fight went the full 10 with the judges in accordance:100-88. In the end, McCreary, who fell to 16-1-1, just wasn’t busy enough and couldn’t keep Frampton at bay with his longer reach.

Frampton had the crowd in his corner. When he was introduced, it seemed like half of Belfast was in the building. He improved to 27-2 and stayed on course to pursue a world title in a third weight class.

Teixeira-Adames

In a tumultuous 12-round battle sanctioned for the WBO “interim” 154-pound world title, Brazil’s Patrick Teixeira (31-1) came back from the brink to send the fight to the judges and emerge victorious with a split decision over previously unbeaten Carlos Adames (19-1).

Teixeira’s badly damaged left eye commanded frequent looks from the ring doctor. He also developed a cut under the right eye. At one point it appeared that Teixeira, who absorbed numerous head-snapping punches, would be rescued from further punishment by referee Robert Byrd. But he never stopped punching and the tide turned with seconds remaining in round eight when he landed a straight left that sent Adames sprawling into the ropes, a clear knockdown. That punch factored into the outcome as Teixeira prevailed by 114-113 on two cards, 116-111 on the other.

Other Bouts

In his best performance to date, super lightweight Arnold Barboza Jr advanced to 23-0 (10) with a fifth-round knockout of Florida-based Brazilian William Silva (27-3).

The undefeated Barboza, from South El Monte, CA, knocked Silva flat on his back with a sweeping left hook in round two and finished the job three rounds later with a vicious right to the liver. In a delayed reaction, Silva crumpled to the floor in obvious distress and was counted out.

In a torrid 8-round welterweight scrap that had the crowd buzzing, Salt Lake City’s Larry Gomez upset previously undefeated Brian Mendoza, winning a split decision (77-75, 77-75, 75-77). Albuquerque’s Mendoza, 18-0 going in, started strong and landed the cleaner punches, but Gomez (10-1, 9 KOs) never took a backward step and won over the judges with his power punches.

Also

Six-foot-six ex-Olympian Guido Vianelli (6-0, 6 KOs) needed only 44 seconds to dismiss Colby Madison. A short chopping right hand put Madison on the deck and referee Jay Nady waived it off as Madison was struggling to regain his feet. Madison, 36, declines to 8-2-2.

8 rounds super lightweights

Andy Hiraoka (15-0, 10 KOs), from Yokohama, Japan, stopped Rogelio Casarez (13-9), Batesville, Ark, in the second round. Hiraoka decked Casarez with a short right hand and then turned up the heat with a fusillade of unanswered blows, forcing the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:16 of round two. It was the fourth straight loss for Casarez

In a swing bout slated for four rounds in the welterweight division, high school senior Xander Zayas, who turned 17 in September, stopped North Carolina’s Virgil Windfield in the opening round. Windfield took a knee after absorbing a short right hand and when the situation repeated itself referee Russell Mora thought it prudent to stop the bout. Zayas (2-0, 2 KOs) has a seek-and-destroy mentality. The lanky Windfield, who was out of his element, falls to 2-3-1.

In the walk-out bout, recent Top Rank signee Jared Anderson (2-0, 2 KOs) stopped Stephen Kirnon (2-3-1) in 90 seconds. Anderson has great potential but keeping his weight in check could be an issue as he moves forward. He came in at 237 pounds tonight and looked a little too thick in the lower body.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank

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