Valenzuela returns with a draw with Danny Zee

By Gary Herman (ringside)

In the “War at Warner Center” from Woodland Hills, Ca, Juan “El Polo” Valenzuela and “Dangerous” Danny Zee fought to an eight round draw in a super middleweight contest. The judges scored the fight 79-74 Valenzuela, 77-75 Zee and 76-76. Valenzuela’s record is now 20-6-1 (9 KO) and Zee is 8-12-1 (4 KO).

Valenzuela, in his first fight back in over three years since a serious eye surgery, did not look impressive in the return. Much of that was do to Zee’s constant pressure. Zee hurt Valenzuela early in the second round with a left hand. The shot opened a cut under Valenzuela’s right eye.

“I felt I really hurt him early on,” said Zee. “He found out he was in a fight.”

Following the cut, Zee kept coming forward looking to inflict more damage. However, Valenzuela wisely moved away. At various times during the fight, Zee mocked Valenzuela by jogging around the ring after him.

When asked about Valenzuela’s constant running, Zee said, “What else can he do? When you’re in there with a monster, all you can do is run.”

In the later rounds, Valenzuela continued to avoid Zee. When Zee caught up to Valenzuela, Zee unleashed a vicious body attack. Valenzuela defended by throwing quick jabs.

“He was scoring more by touching me, but I was definitely throwing the harder bombs,” said Zee.

Zee hurt Valenzuela multiple times in the fight, but Valenzuela was never in danger of going down. Valenzuela connected with many more punches, but he did not hurt Zee.

Even though the fight was a draw, Zee was pleased with the result. Much of the pre-fight advertising showcased the return of Valenzuela. That fact concerned Zee.

“I’ve been in these situations before so when it went to a decision I thought for sure I was going to lose,” Zee said. “This whole promotion was built around Valenzuela. I was the opponent.”

For Zee, the draw was a second consecutive impressive performance against a name opponent. Back in June, Zee handed Saul Roman his fourth loss. Coincidentally, Roman also fought this same night across the country in Connecticut. Roman defeated former junior middleweight champion Kassim Ouma by split decision.

On the other hand, Valenzuela’s return was successful in that he was able to get back into the ring after such a long time out of it. Valenzuela got rid of the ring rust and can continue his road back.

At the end of the night, even though the fight was a draw, the match-up may prove to be a triumph for both fighters.

Other fights:

In the co-main event, Vardan Gasparyan defeated Steve Verdin by unanimous in a super middleweight bout. All three judges scored the fight 60-56.

Gasparyan dominated from the onset and was by far the busier fighter. Verdin put on a competitive performance but was never able to mount any serious offense. Neither Verdin nor Gasparyan was hurt during the fight. Gasparyan’s record is now 9-1 (4 KO) while Verdin drops to 8-34 (1 KO).

Isael Navarrete defeated Jorge Diaz by unanimous decision in an action packed junior bantamweight match-up. The judges scored the fight 57-56, 59-55, and 59-55. For the full six rounds, Navarette and Diaz stood and traded punches in the center of the ring.

Navarette was much more accurate with his punches which gave him the decision. However, Diaz scored the only knockout of the fight with a right cross at the end of the first round. The crowd applauded a tremendous effort by both fighters after the match-up. Navarette’s record is now 5-4 (0 KO) while Diaz falls to 4-5 (1 KO)

In the opening bout, Evgeny Hill defeated Miguel Reza by majority decision in a four round junior lightweight fight. The judges scored the fight 39-37, 39-37, and 38-38. With the victory, Hill improves to 2-1 (0 KO) while Reza drops 3-3 (0 KO, 1 draw).

Reza and Hill fought a very close battle. Most of the two-way action took place in the center of the ring. Neither fighter was seriously hurt in the fight. Towards the end of the final round, Hill fell to the canvas, but the referee ruled it a slip. The mostly pro-Reza crowd was unhappy the decision.