Home »

[bana2166]

Former Haitian Olympian Andre Berto TKO veteran Roberto Valenzuela in First Round

The knockouts just keep on coming.

At Madison Square Garden, undefeated Winter Haven welterweight Andre Berto overwhelmed veteran Roberto Valenzuela on Saturday night with a KO at 2:19 of the first round.

The aggressive Berto (14-0, 12 KOs), who boxed in the Olympics for Haiti, whipped Valenzuela (37-25-2, 33 KOs) in their scheduled eight-round bout.

The fight was on the undercard of the Ike QuarteyVernon Forrest welterweight bout, which was televised on HBO. (The fight was not completed for this edition.)

Valenzuela, 28, had spent most of his career as a lightweight (135-139 pounds), but has the height at 6-foot-2 to add more weight. Tony Morgan, Berto's trainer, said last week that Valenzuela was tough and experienced.

"He's fought some really good fighters, and he has never been stopped," Morgan said of the Mexican challenger.

Berto, 22, realized one of his professional goals by fighting in Madison Square Garden.

"It's always been a dream of mine," said Berto last week.

Also on the undercard, super middleweight Jaidon Codrington (12-1, 10 KOs) handed former world champion Carl Daniels (49-10-1, 31 KOs) his sixth straight loss with a 6054 win on all cards.

Punchin' Pat Nwamu (12-1, 4 KOs) stopped John Battle (1417-1) at 2:50 of round three to win the IBA super cruiserweight world title.

Junior welterweight Darling Jimenez (20-2-2, 11 KOs) halted Arturo Brambila (8-8) at 2:32 of the opening round.

Marquez Silences Mabuza

STATELINE, Nev. -- Rafael Marquez retained his IBF and IBO bantamweight championships by stopping Silence Mabuza with a steady beating in the ninth round Saturday night.

Marquez (36-3 with 32 knockouts) used his jab effectively and followed up with rights to the head of Mabuza (19-2).

Referee Tony Weeks stopped the contest after Mabuza's corner threw in the towel.