CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Jamaican featherweight Nicholas Walters calls himself the “Axe Man,” and in the opening round of Saturday’s final off-television fight, Walters showed exactly why, blasting Mexican Alberto Garza with shots square to the belly for whose power Garza appeared wholly unprepared. Those body shots began a performance eclipse for the Mexican that Walters completed soon after.
Jack-knifing a Mexican prizefighter in a title match is no mean feat, and yet Walters (23-0, 19 KOs) turned the trick with nearly every body shot he landed on Garza (25-6-1, 20 KOs), dropping him in round 4 with a punch that was on the belt-line and clean but ruled a low blow, and stopping him with a right cross to the head a few seconds later. The official line went: Walters by knockout at 1:57 of round 4.
Afterwards, an elated Walters made a number of menacing gestures for television’s benefit, all while smiling, and then went to Garza’s corner to check on his devastated opponent. Promoter Bob Arum, too, appeared elated, leaning over the top rope to say about Walters to those gathered at ringside: “He hits hard!”
REST OF UNDERCARD
The penultimate off-television match of the nine-fight card saw Detroit super featherweight Erick De Leon (6-0, 2 KOs) easily decision Phoenix’s Jesus Aguinaga (1-2) by three scores of 40-36.
Saturday’s fourth match featured highly touted Mexican featherweight Oscar Valdez (8-0, 7 KOs) against Floridian Jesus Lule Raya (6-7, 1 KO), a man who did not know what his record did and who slugged-back at Valdez and took the Mexican prospect’s very best shots before succumbing to a Valdez right uppercut at 2:38 of round 5. Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., ringside as part of TV Azteca broadcasting duties, expressed impassioned praise for Valdez, raising his distinctive voice to shout over the din about Valdez’s technique and precision.
Before that came a six-round scrap between undefeated local bantamweight Oscar Cantu (6-0, 1 KO) and undefeated Georgian Roberto Ceron (3-1, 1 KO), two light-hitting prizefighters who nevertheless entertained the American Bank Center crowd with six spirited sets and a knockdown Cantu scored in round 4, en route to unanimous-decision scores of 60-53, 59-54 and 59-54.
The evening’s second bout saw highly touted Mexican welterweight, fighting by way of Oklahoma, Alex “El Cholo” Saucedo (11-0, 8 KOs) beat down Steven Hall (6-5, 6 KOs), a rugged Englishman who has made nearby San Antonio his home while enchanting its boxing fans. From the opening minute it was apparent Hall hadn’t ammunition enough to keep Saucedo at bay, with “El Cholo” turning over fully his every hook and counter, while Hall was only able to soldier on and collect a preordained beating that mercifully ended at 0:11 of round 3.
Before that California featherweight “Vicious” Victor Pasillas (6-0, 3 KOs) stopped overmatched Kentuckian Salvador Perez (2-3-2) with a nifty right-hook counter at 0:30 of round 2.
Opening bell rang on a sparsely occupied American Bank Center at 5:25 PM local time.
Photos by Chris Farina / Top rank
