Oscar Valdez, of Mexico, celebrates after defeating Evgeny Gradovich, of Russia, in the fourth round of their featherweight title boxing bout Saturday, April 9, 2016, in Las Vegas. AP
LAS VEGAS–Oscar Valdez connected on a left hook and sent the beaten Evgeny Gradovich to the canvas in the fourth round to nab the NABO featherweight title Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena here.
The fighter out of Nogales, Mexico capped his domination with a knockdown of Gradovich at four rounds into the 10-rounder at the 2:14 mark, prompting the referee to stop the fight.
With a cut above his right eye, Gradovich, dubbed as “the Mexican Russian,” didn’t look fit to continue with his face red and swollen. He dropped to 21-2-1 with 9 KOs.
Valdez, who later thanked his team for helping him get the victory in a quality showing, was virtually unscathed. He improved to 19-0 with 17 KOs.
In the opener of the pay-per-view ‘NoTrump’ undercard, Jose Ramirez retained the WBC Continental Americas title with a unanimous decision win over Manny Perez.
Ramirez got the judges’ nods, 97-93, 98-92, 91-91, to remain undefeated with 17 wins and 12 KOs.