In the first bout aired on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith pay-per-view, Golden Boy Promotions prospect Diego De La Hoya (16-0, 9 KOs), took on Roc Nation Sports fighter, Luis Orlando Del Valle (22-3, 16 KOs).
The 10-round bout was a Mexico vs. Puerto Rico clash, which provided a few fan-friendly exchanges, but was mostly a one-sided performance.
De La Hoya won a one-sided decision over Del Valle–dominating and outlanding Del Valle 152 to 91 according to CompuBox.
De La Hoya was coming off a Round 7 TKO victory over Rocco Santomauro for the WBC Youth World super bantamweight title. As the cousin of Oscar De La Hoya, Diego has been moved along at a steady pace and a lot was riding on this fight for the young prospect.
Del Valle looked strong in his previous fight, which was an eight-round decision over Thomas Snow back in May of this year.
De La Hoya, the 22-year-old Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico native, imposed his physical dominance early on and even though Del Valle was willing to exchange in close quarters, De La Hoya’s power would back him up continuously.
“There were moments where the fight was complicated, but I was able to hurt him consistently with shots to the head. My most effective shot was the uppercut, and once I found that out, I consistently used it,” said De La Hoya.
By Round 6, Del Valle’s face began to show bruising as De La Hoya was finding his target often.
Diego De La Hoya just appears to be too much for game veteran Orlandito Del Valle
— LukieBoxing (@LukieBoxing) September 18, 2016
“You’ve got to gamble, you gotta go for it,” said Del Valle’s corner as they tried to pump their man up going into Round 8.
Risks were something that Del Valle wasn’t willing to take as De La Hoya frustrated the Puerto Rican strong combinations and counters.
Opening up offensively and taking risks obviously puts a fighter in a position to receive punishment in return, but in boxing, risks are what people expect fighters to take when they need a knockout to win.
In the opposite corner, well-known trainer Joel Diaz pleaded with De La Hoya to finish Del Valle off, but other than a short flurry towards the end of Round 10, De La Hoya was content with coasting to a decision victory.
The official scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91, all for De La Hoya.
Del Valle seemed content with his performance and was not at all interested in arguing with the decision.
“He was the better fighter, and that’s that. There are no excuses on my part. I wish Diego the best,” said Del Valle.
“I’m glad for the victory to bring this fight for all the Mexican fans tonight in front of such a venue has been a dream come true for me,” concluded De La Hoya.
Photo by Tom Hogan/Golden Boy Promotions
