Photo by Mikey Williams
In what was supposed to be a step up in competition against a battled-test veteran, undefeated Washington DC and Golden Boy Promotions prospect, Lamont Roach Jr. (13-0, 5 KOs) made quick work of Alejandro Valdez (26-9-2, 20 KOs), stopping the Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico native at the 1:41 mark of Round 1.
The fight, which took place on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at Fantasy Springs Resort, was on the undercard of the Francisco Vargas vs. Miguel Berchelt Boxing After Dark card on HBO.
Roach Jr. finished matters with a vicious shot to the body, which left Valdez wincing in pain on the canvas, uninterested in trying to continue.
“It feels good to be 21 with a title already, and this just lines up everything for a future world championship,” said Roach Jr. after the bout.
“I got him to go down twice and he didn’t want to come back for a third.”
While Valdez’s biggest fights were down at Bantamweight, he was supposed to give Roach Jr. a different look and at least extend the youngster a few rounds.
But the 21-year-old NoXcuse Boxing Club fighter had other ideas as he came out authoritatively walking Valdez down and showing off quick and accurate combinations.
With the victory, Roach Jr. is now the WBC Youth Super Featherweight champion and with the recent ESPN/Golden Boy Promotions merger he’ll certainly have more opportunities to be featured on big time fight cards.
@OneOf1x wipes out Alex Valdez in Round 1 to win WBC Youth Super Featherweight strap. #NoXcuse #Boxing #RBRBoxing pic.twitter.com/BN4fLrt6mT
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) January 29, 2017
