Valenzuela Passes the Xilohua Test in Jamestown 

JAMESTOWN, CALIFORNIA – Unbeaten featherweight prospect Noli Valenzuela dropped rugged Irving Xilohua in the first en route to a hard-fought eight-round unanimous decision in the grudge match main event of Toscano Boxing Promotions’ “Rising Stars” event at the Chicken Ranch Casino Resort on Thursday night. 

The story heading into fight night centered around some bad blood between the two main event camps, stemming from Valenzuela’s inability to make the contracted 126-pounds on Wednesday afternoon. After originally coming in one pound over, Valenzuela (13-0, 6 KOs) of Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico dropped less than one-half-pound and a deal was reached to secure their scheduled eight-round clash, but not before some heated trash talk. Once the introductions were out of the way, it was clear that neither fighter had grown any fonder of their opponent and referee Edward Collantes seemed to be on high alert from the outset. 

About one minute into round one, Valenzuela landed the first telling blow of the bout, a stiff jab that seemed to momentarily buckle the knees of Xilohua (9-2, 6 KOs) of Stockton, California. Rather than follow-up,  Valenzuela, 126.6, took the opportunity to imitate Xilohua, 125.4, and showboat for the crowd. 

Xilohua let his hands go with Valenzuela backed into the corner, but when the action moved to center ring, the Chapala native landed with a jab and straight left to score a knockdown. Valenzuela again taunted the downed Xilohua, standing over his prone opponent in a prolonged manner with referee Collantes trying to pull him back to his corner. Instead of following up on the knockdown, Valenzuela opted to showboat again before the pro-Xilohua crowd to close out the round. 

Other than an early flurry, Valenzuela let off the gas pedal in round two, which allowed Xilohua to regain his footing in the fight. Early in the third, Xilohua connected with a clean right in an exchange that excited the home crowd. Both fighters got their shots in during early exchanges and by midway through the round, Valenzuela’s showboating had ceased for the most part. 

Both combatants looked to mix in their body work to set up their head shots in the fourth. Xilohua maintained good ring position, but the southpaw Valenzuela was fairly adept at fighting while backing up. 

Xilohua had a solid fifth round, letting his hands go to the body especially. At one moment, Xilohua lost his footing momentarily, but rebounded to land a solid overhand right while Valenzuela moved in close to capitalize. 

After Valenzuela landed a combination with Xilohua covering up in the sixth, the Stockton native let his hands go and took over the remainder of the round. Not endearing himself to the pro-Xilohua crowd, Valenzuela, figuring he was up on the cards, was on his horse for much of the seventh and at the close of the eighth. 

All three judges; Brian Tsukamoto, Joel Farbstein and Michael Margado scored the bout 77-74 for the still undefeated Valenzuela. 

“It was complicated for several rounds, but I managed to get the win,” admitted the naturally larger Valenzuela after the bout. “I tried to use my left hand to the body the whole fight, but I didn’t think he would last this long.” 

In a battle of former sparring partners, Marco Antonio Delgado (8-6-1, 5 KOs) of Turlock, California scored an exciting six-round majority decision over Juan Zamorano (6-2, 6 KOs) of Turlock by way of Rosamorada, Nayarit, Mexico

Delgado, 175, and Zamorano, 172, went to war from the opening bell. The two-way action of the first round set the tone for the fight, as Delgado landed clean when in close, while the rangy Zamorano found success when at range on the outside. 

Delgado did well to work his way inside on the much taller Zamorano in the second round, while keeping a steady pace for a light heavyweight. There was more back-and-forth in the third, as Zamorano found more time at range, but Delgado still was busy when he worked his way on the inside. Before the fourth, the ringside doctor checked-in on some swelling under Delgado’s right eye, but it never became an issue in the bout. 

In the fourth, Delgado displayed some good footwork for a big man as he cut off the ring well and even tuned southpaw for a stretch. In the fifth, Delgado pressed the entire round and really let his hands go after the ten-second warning at the end of the round.

Zamorano started out round six at range, but once Delgado closed the distance he found a home for his uppercut and pressed his Mexican-born adversary against the ropes where he could unload his combinations on the inside. 

Judge Joel Farbstein found five rounds for Zamorano, scoring the bout 59-56, but was overruled by judge David Hartman (58-56) and judge Brian Tsukamoto (59-55), who both had it for Delgado. 

“I thank him for taking the fight,” said Delgado, who welcomes a potential rematch, after the bout. “I wouldn’t want to fight me.” 

19-year-old lightweight prospect Nick Saavedra (4-0, 2 KOs) of Modesto, California made short work of Juan Guillermo Montero (4-3-1, 3 KOs) of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, scoring two knockdowns en route to a first-round stoppage. 

Saavedra, 133.4, was aggressive at the outset and landed in combination as Montero, 139, struggled to keep or cover up. Saavedra soon landed a short left hook that disconnected Montero momentarily and dropped the Tijuana native near a neutral corner. When Montero rose, Saavedra moved in quickly with a combination, punctuated by a left hook, to score a second knockdown. When action resumed, Saavedra forced Montero into his own corner and landed an unanswered combination that prompted referee David Hartman to leap in a call a halt to the bout at 2:57 of the first. 

In under one exciting round, Pedro Juarez (2-0, 1 KO) of Tracy, California scored three knockdowns en route to a stoppage victory over Harley Sampson (1-1, 1 KO) of Reno, Nevada. 

Juarez, 135, first dropped Sampson, 135, with a combination in the early going. Sampson rose on steady legs, but was caught a little squared-up and dropped again by a left hook. Despite the two knockdowns, Sampson looked fairly clear-headed before Juarez landed with a right and a clean-up left hook that laid the Reno resident flat on his back. Referee Edward Collantes had no choice but to wave off the bout at 2:31 of round one. 

Juarez entered the bout with a three-fight win streak dating back to his pro boxing debut last October and including two stoppage victories inside the MMA cage. The two-sport combat fighter was asked about his fighting future after the impressive kayo victory. 

“We’ll see what happens, but I will probably continue to box, but if an opportunity comes in MMA, we’ll jump on that too,” said Juarez after the bout. “Whatever comes, I am ready.” 

19-year-old Damian Flores (3-0-1, 2 KOs) of Ceres, California turned back a tough opponent while making his U.S. debut, scoring a four-round unanimous decision over Adrian Mendoza (0-1) of Carson City, Nevada. 

Each had their moments in the opening round as Flores, 115.2, flashed his boxing skills and footwork from the early going, while Mendoza, 112.6, employed a more straight ahead approach. Flores had a more difficult time keeping Mendoza at bay in the second round, as the Nevada resident was able to get in range for some winging shots.  

Flores, sporting a fresh haircut since yesterday’s weigh-in, found a home repeatedly for his uppercut in round three, before opening up a cut over Mendoza’s right eye after planting his feet and landing with a straight right hand late in the round. 

Despite the difficult round three, Mendoza came out determined for the final round. Flores controlled the round in stretches with his jab and combinations, but Mendoza kept coming and landed with an overhand right before the final bell. 

Judges Brian Tsukamoto, Joel Farbstein and David Hartman all scored the bout a shutout, 40-36, for Flores. 

In the walkout bout, Lai Thang (2-3) of Dallas, Texas spoiled the night for the vocal supporters of Benigno Gaona Diaz (1-2, 1 KO) of Galt, California by way of Pabellon de Arteaga, Aguascalientes, Mexico, scoring two late knockdowns en route to a four-round unanimous decision victory. 

Thang, 126, rocked Gaona Diaz, 123.6, with an overhand right and was a little quicker on the draw for much of the opening round. After the out-of-towner outworked Gaona Diaz for much of the second round, the Galt resident found some success early in the third before his momentum was stunted by a Thang counter that gave him reason to take a step back and two-way action closed out the round. 

Both fighters came out swinging at the start of round four, each attempting to secure their second career victory. The pro-Gaona Diaz crowd was into the fight as their man looked to be on the way to securing the round before disaster struck and Thang scored his first knockdown late in the stanza. Gaona Diaz beat the count, but was soon dropped again by a left hand just before the sound of the final bell. Referee David Hartman counted Gaona Diaz back to his corner to close out the fight, which would be scored a shutout by all three judges; Brian Tsukamoto, Joel Farbstein and Edward Collantes, 40-34.

Photos by Michelle Morgan

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com