Najee Lopez KO8 Manuel Gallegos... In a light heavyweight war, rising Najee Lopez stopped the relentless Manuel Gallegos (22-3-1, 19 KOs) in eight unforgettable rounds to win a blood-soaked battle at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida. Fighting live on ProBoxTV, Lopez (16-0, 13 KOs) of Ellenwood, Georgia, and Gallegos (22-4-1, 19 KOs) of Los Mochis, Mexico, went all-out 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.”
Dominic Valle W10 Eduardo Ramirez... Undefeated Dominic Valle (13-0, 7 KOs) of Lutz, Florida, won a controversial but unanimous ten-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 ten 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.
ADDITIONAL RESULTS
In the night’s first Contender Series matchup, Cleveland 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” s six rounder between two 100% knockout punchers, New Orleans' Delvin Mckinley (14-5-1, 13 KOs) took a thrilling, upset majority decision over Christian “Il Bambino” Chessa (6-1, 6 KOs) of 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 (twice) and 60-54 for Valle to stay undefeated in his young career, earning a good learning experience.
