Verdejo scores 3rd round stoppage

The main event saw former Olympian and current Puerto Rican press sensation, Félix “El Diamante” Verdejo, 134.8 of San Juan, P.R. fight a seasoned but limited Sergio “El Cuate” Villanueva, 133.2. It was quickly evident who the fan favorite was as the Puerto Rican prospect drew cheers from the crowd as soon as he walked into the ring.
The first round was very technical with Villanueva, of Tepic, Mexico, trying to press the action and Verdejo controlling the distance while looking to counter rusbank.net. El Cuate was more effective in a similar second round and forced Verdejo to momentarily switch stance in the third. Verdejo landed a few body shots before a monstrous right counter to the head ended the fight. Villanueva fell face first against the first rope and referee Frank Santore stopped the fight at 1:57 of the third round. It is hard to tell if this is an improvement for Verdejo who has been dominating mostly subpar opposition with incredible ease but Villanueva was supposed to last a few round more. El Cuate now drops to 26-5-2 with 13 KOs and Verdejo improved to 14-0, 11 KOs.

The first fight of the night at the Bahía Shriners Event Center in Orlando, Florida, featured Esteban Villalba of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico against Anthony Mercado, Arecibo, P.R. Mercado, 141.6, probably won first round the fight but Villalba, 140.2, weathered the storm and had bloodied Mercado’s nose by the end of the second. The rest of the fight featured some good exchanges and both fighters were able to land their share of good punches. Mercado, (8-0,7 KOs) was the more active fighter and earned the victory with scores of 58-56 and 59-55 twice. Villalba drops to 5-10-2, with 1KO.

The co-main event of the evening featured Martin “Marciano” Cardona, (17-3, 12 Kos) Guadalajara, Mex and Gamalier Rodríguez, 129 (25-2-3, 17KOs) Bayamón, PR. Gamalier, 128.4, got off to a fast start and floored Cardona, 129, with an overhand right after hurting him with a body shot in the first round. Early in the second, Rodríguez landed enough heavy punches to halt the fight with Martín still on his feet but clearly outmatched. With the victory, Gamalier, ranked third by the WBO, stays in line to possibly challenge Vasyl Lomachencko for the featherweight title.

Nelsan Machado, 125, of Miami, FL overwhelmed Stephon McIntyre, 123.8 of Jonesboro, GA and needed only 2:47 to improve to 7-0, 6KOs. McIntyre, now 2-3-2 with no knockouts on his resume, went down early and was allowed to continue only to be taken to the ropes and into a crouching position before the referee waved it off.
The televised portion of the card pitted Austin Marcum, 158, Logan, WV against Esquiva Falcao, 158.2 of Viloria, Brazil. Marcum (6-6-1, 3 Kos) tried but Falcao was better in every sense and forced the stoppage at 1:24 of the second round after Marcum went down from a left hook to the head. Esquiva improved to 5-0 with 3 KOs.

The night’s swing bout matched Fransisco Camacho (2-4-1, 1 KO), Matamoros, Mex vs Christopher “Pitufo” Díaz, (6-0,4Kos) Barranquillas, PR. Both fighters agreed to exchange but it was Díaz, 125.8, who did the hurting. Pitufo (Spanish for Smurf) landed the cleaner shots and rattled Camacho, 126.6, during the first three rounds. A left hook to the body early in the fourth brought about the first knockdown of the fight and a second one ended the fight when Camacho, now 2-5-1 with 1 KO, couldn’t beat the count. Stoppage time was 0:55 of the fourth.

Gilberto Mendoza 112.8 (4-3, 1KO) and Jantony Ortíz, 114.2, fought to 4 rounds. Mendoza, from Modesto, CA surprised Ortíz, Humacao, P.R., with a nice counter that dropped the ex Olympian in the first round and gained enough confidence to last him two rounds. By the third, Ortíz (3-0, 2KOs) settled down and was countering Mendoza (4-4, 1 KO) effectively. Ortíz dominated the very entertaining fourth round to win by scores of 39-37 and 38-37 twice.
Locals Berthin Rousseau, 138, and Jovan Pérez, 139.6, (1-0, 1KO) fought well above what their record would suggest with Rousseau (1-9, 1KO) showing lots of heart and chin and Pérez showing the poise of a more seasoned fighter . Score cards of38-38, 39-37 and 40-36 gave a majority decision win to Pérez who improves to 2-0 and 2 KOs and showed how close and subjective were the rounds and the fight.