Valdez stops Osawa in 7th round to retain WBO title

Hiroshige Osawa, right, of Japan, fights Oscar Valdez, of Mexico, during their WBO featherweight title boxing match, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

Oscar Valdez scored a stoppage against Hiroshige Osawa to retain his WBO featherweight championship Sunday (Manila time) at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The Mexican earned a technical knockout victory after pitting the Japanese challenger to the ropes with a flurry of head punches, prompting referee Vic Drakulich to stop the fight at the 1:50 mark of the seventh round.

Valdez, the no.8 in his division in the Ring Magazine rankings, improved to 22-0 and upped his knockout count to 19.

Osawa, who was coming off a 16-fight unbeaten streak, dropped to 30-4-4 after his first bout in the United States.

Valdez floored Osawa in the fourth round after unleashing a right overhand punch straight to the challenger’s face./rga