Results from Indio, California

By David Robinett at ringside

Lamont Roach Jr., (13-0, 5 KOs), captured the WBC Youth Silver Super Featherweight belt with a first round demolition of shopworn Alex Valdez, (26-9-2, 20 KOs), knocking his opponent out at 1:41 of the round in a scheduled eight round bout. Roach, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Maryland before putting that on hold to focus on his boxing career, didn’t need a degree to figure out Valdez, who moved very little and was the proverbial sitting duck for Roach’s fast hands and diverse arsenal. Roach got Valdez’s attention early on with a quick right uppercut before knocking Valdez down with another right hand moments later. Valdez, a one-time contender who twice unsuccessfully challenged for a bantamweight title belt nearly a decade ago, wasn’t badly hurt but when Roach landed another right uppercut that seemed to catch Valdez on the neckline a minute later, he went down onto his face and did not move for several seconds, prompting the referee to stop his count and end the fight.

Another one of Golden Boy Promotions’ amateur standouts, 18-year old super lightweight Vergil Ortiz Jr., (4-0, 4 KOs), easily dispatched an opponent twice his age, 36-year old Israel Villela, (5-4, 2 KOs). Ortiz, a seven-time national champion who claimed a flyweight gold medal at the 2013 Junior Olympics, ate a few right hands from Villela as he walked him down, but put any thoughts of a competitive fight to rest when he crushed his opponent with a right hook of his own that sent Villela down in a heap. Villela managed to beat the count but was in no shape to continue and the referee waved it off at 1:26 of the opening round of a scheduled four-round bout.

In an unusual matchup in the opening bout from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, 19-year old super bantamweight Cesar Diaz, (4-0, 4 KOs), made quick work of 40-year old Joel Cano, (1-5, 0 KOs), stopping his elder 51 seconds into round two. Diaz knocked Cano down with his first punch of the fight, a straight right hand. Cano beat the count but spent the remainder of the round backpedaling as Diaz stalked. A right hook, left hook combination early in the second round sent Cano back to the canvas, prompting the referee to wave the fight over.