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