Valdez gets an Oscar for stoppage of Avalos

By Norm Frauenheim

LAS VEGAS – It was advertised as Oscar Valdez’ toughest test yet. So much for advertising.

Valdez made it look easy, displaying a potent mix of smarts, timing and power for a fifth-round stoppage of Chris Avalos Friday night at The Cosmopolitan.

“Everything we did in gym, it worked,’’ said Valdez (18-0, 15 KOs), a two-time Mexican Olympian and a featherweight student whose prospects have looked better. “It was perfect.’’

A counter left was Valdez weapon of choice against Avalos (26-4, 19 KOs), a 25-uear-old Lancaster, Calif., fighter whose biggest mistake was some aggressiveness in the third.

Avalos walked straight into a left that seemed to have a delayed effect. He stumbled forward, caught himself and regained his balance, then fell backwards and onto the canvas.

It was sign of what was to come. Valdez staggered him with a left in the final second of the fourth, then finished it by landing a left that prompted referee Russell Mora to stop it 1:17 of the fifth

Philadelphia super-middleweight prospect Jesse Hart discovered that there’s only one counter to a tactic that includes more grabbing and holding than punching.

“Poise,’’ he said .

Hart (18-0, 15 KOs) relied on it while patiently mixing in an array of solid body blows for a ninth-round TKO of Aaron Pryor Jr. (19-9-1, 12 KOs), the Cincinnati son of the senior Aaron Pryor and a great junior-welterweight known as The Hawk.

Rios, Bradley

Welterweight Timothy Bradley worked as a ringside analyst for the TruTV telecast. At another side of the ring, Brandon Rios sat alongside trainer Robert Garcia. They’ll be sharing a ring on Nov. 7 at Thomas & Mack in Las Vegas.

“I’m just happy to be back,’’ said Rios, who hasn’t fought since a stoppage of Mike Alvarado on Jan. 24.

Bradley, who won a disputed decision over Jessie Vargas on June 26, will have a new corner for the first time in his a decade. He confirmed that Teddy Atlas will be his trainer instead of Joel Diaz.