Showing no signs of rust despite his recent inactivity, Lopez pinned Lugo against the ropes immediately in round three and unloaded to the head and body until referee Ray Corona saved Lugo from more damage at 1:18 of the third round. “I was very anxious to return to the ring,” said Lopez after the fight. “I was trying to get a world champion (to face me in this fight), unfortunately, none of them were available. But, hey, I'm happy to be performing here tonight. I want to thank all my fans. I know it's not easy to cross the border. It's getting very difficult, but I promise you, I will be champion once again.”

 

 Dominic Valle W10 Francois Scarboro Jr. ... Undefeated junior lightweight Dominic Valle won an action-packed war against Francois Scarboro Jr. by unanimous ten-round decision. Scarboro Jr, now 14-1 (9 KOs), of Cheverly, Maryland, came out firing from the onset and had Valle (14-0 with 7 KOs), of Lutz, Florida, cut over the right eye from a punch before the first round was half over. Both boxers had their moments in closely fought rounds two and three. Fighting for the first time outside his home state, the taller Valle used his long jab to keep Scarboro Jnr at bay in the first half of round four. The action picked up significantly in the second half of the fourth, with Scarboro Jnr hurting Valle with a series of right hands against the ropes, only to get hurt by powerful shots from Valle to the body and head a minute later. The hostilities continued in rounds five and six, as both landed their share of clubbing haymakers during non-stop, tit-for-tat exchanges. Valle may have gotten the better in round five, Scarboro had the better round six. Valle rediscovered his jab to control round seven, as he used it to set up strong combinations, while forcing a tiring Scarboro Jnr to miss most of his wild attempts at landing return shots. Evenly fought rounds eight and nine saw Scarboro Jnr utilizing explosive bursts to land combinations, while Valle continued to pop his jab and land his own combos during the lulls in Scarboro work. Scarboro Jnr suffered a cut over the right eye in round nine. The final round saw more of the exciting same, with Scarboro Jnr coming out firing wildly in the first minute, Valle taking advantage of his winded foe in the second minute and then more superb back and forth warfare to end the compelling fight. In the end, the judges unanimously favored Valle’s more skillful approach by scores of 96-94, and two surprisingly wide tallies of 98-92 98-92.

 

ADDITIONAL RESULTS

 

In the opening bout of the “Championship Series,” members only, portion of the card, middleweight Hebert Conceicao Sousa scored an entertaining eighth-round TKO over Jose De Jesus Adame Chio. Standing 6-foot-1, the Brazilian Conceicao Sousa (12-0, 6 KOs enjoyed a big advantage in size over the 5-foot-5 Adame Chio, now 15-1-1 (7 KOs), who is from of Mexicali, Mexico. However, in the first four rounds, Adame Chio’s forward movement and constant aggression was surprisingly effective against 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Conceicao Sousa, who appeared to be reluctant to move forward and control the ring center, instead content to fire single counter punches in spots. With the unheralded 27 year-old Adame Chio looking to be possibly taking over the momentum of the fight from the still bafflingly listless Conceicao Sousa, the 28-year-old Brazilian unexpectedly fired a Mexican liver shot and left hook that wobbled Adame Chio midway through round five. Adame Chio was sent down from the suddenly energized Conceicao Sousa’s follow-up volleys. He rose still wobbly and bleeding from the right eye but managed to make it out of the round. Conceicao Sousa hurt Adame Chio again with another whipping left hook in the sixth and a straight right hand appeared to hurt him again early in the seventh. To his credit, the game Adame Chio, who was having his first fight outside his Mexican homeland, wobbled Conceicao Sousa with an overhand right of his own a minute later to cap an action-packed seventh round.The ringside physician took a long look at Adame Chio’s bleeding right eye early in round eight, and another strong left hook the body deposited him back on the canvas for another count. This time, Conceicao Sousa didn’t let his man off the hook, as he battered Adame Chio with both hands until Referee Ray Corona waved the fight over at 1:46.

 

In the second and final matchup of the “Future Stars” series portion of the card, hometown junior welterweight Daniel Morales, 10-0 (6 KOs), kept his unbeaten record intact with a second-round knockout over Lorenzo Vazquez Avalos, 4-2 (4 KOs), of Fontana, California. After getting the better of the action in an uneventful opening round, a clubbing overhand right dropped a badly hurt Avalos early in round two. Morales’ follow-up brought a merciful end to the fight, as a strong right to the pit of the stomach dropped the Mexican for a second time. Referee Jonathan Romero waved it off at :59 of round two.

 

In the televised opener, Top Rank’s 18 year-old junior lightweight Julian “El Naturel” Montalvo, 8-0 (6 KOs), of Las Vegas, stayed undefeated with a fifth-round stoppage of Anthony Cruz Herrera of Eugene, Oregon, now 4-2. The game Oregonian Herrera came out looking to mix it up, but was bleeding from the nose by round two, as Montalvo’s skill and power advantages, in addition to a focused body attack, began to accumulate. Red-faced and bleeding, Herrera was checked by the ringside physician before round five, and then shortly into the round, his corner indicated they’d like to rescue their man from unnecessary punishment. Referee Chris Leben waved it off at :59 of the fifth.