A tremendous upset was scored in the co-featured bout to the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Jason LeHoullier headlined card from Tepic, Mexico on Saturday when 5-to-1 underdog Alejandro Valdez scored a third-round stoppage of interim bantamweight beltholder Fernando Montiel.
Montiel (39-3-1, 29 knockouts) started well, dropping Valdez with a hook-left uppercut combination in the opening stanza, but he suffered a nasty cut over his left eye before the round ended.
However, Valdez (22-3-2, 16 knockouts), a tall southpaw, found his range in the second round and dropped Montiel with an uppercut. Valdez teed off with his jab in third round, frustrating Montiel with his accuracy and accidental headbutts.
With his left eye nearly swollen shut Montiel’s corner corner claimed that the former flyweight and junior bantamweight titleholder couldn’t continue, hoping for a No Contest or technical draw because four rounds had not been completed.
The fight was stopped and indeed it was announced as a technical draw, but it was later determined that Montiel’s cut was produced by a punch and not an accidental headbutt and the verdict was changed to a third-round TKO for the unheralded 25-year-old Sonora native, who was stopped in two rounds by bantamweight titleholder Hozumi Hasegawa last October.
The loss was more than a big upset for Montiel, who is considered to be one of the most talented and accomplished active Mexican boxers, it likely cost him a good payday on a high-profile boxing card.
The 30-year-old Los Mochis native was scheduled to fight Eric Morel on the Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view undercard on November 14. That slot will probably go to someone else now.
In the main event of the Top Rank-promoted card, Chavez (40-0-1, 30 KOs) made quick work of Jason LeHoullier (22-2-1, 8 KOs), overwhelming the New England-area club fighter in the first round with a series of power shots. Chavez, who might face middleweight fringe contender John Duddy next, took care of LeHoullier in 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
In the best fight of the card, Donnie Nietes retained his 105-pound title with a hard-fought split decision over game Manuel Vargas.
The Philippines’ Nietes, who won by scores of 118-110, 116-110 and 112-116, was the faster, more elusive and accurate-punching boxer. However, the Mexican challenger was the aggressor throughout the fight.
Vargas marched forward throwing hard hooks and uppercuts and seemed to get stronger in the late rounds, but Nietes was able to block and slip many of the Mexican’s punches while stepping back.
