Velez KOs Cruz in all-PR showdown

Photos: Bryan Quiles

With an aggressive body attack, super featherweight Jayson “La Maravilla” Velez (27-5-1, 19 KOs) annihilated Orlando “El Fenomeno” Cruz (25-7-2, 13 KOs) in two rounds on Saturday night at the Coliseo Rafael G. Amalbert in Juncos, Puerto Rico. Velez put Cruz on the deck twice in round two, finishing him with a liver shot. With the win, Velez claimed the NABA title.

“I’m grateful to Orlandito (Cruz) to get in the ring and accept this challenge because it shows that he’s more of a man than many out there,” Velez said.

“I didn’t expect the fight to be over so quickly, but this was the plan we had. Put pressure and attack the body. Everything went smoothly and we got the results we wanted.”

In the co-feature, WBA Latino super featherweight champion Alberto “Transformer” Mercado (15-1-1, 3 KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over Miguel ‘El Gallo’ Marrero (8-1-2, 4 KOs). Scores were 79-73 (x3).