By Héctor Villarreal

In a long-awaited rematch between two Dominican light heavyweights, Bryan “El Black” Pérez (14-1, 9 KOs) avenged the only defeat of his professional career, by narrowly defeating former world champion Felix “Mangu” Valera (18-4, 15 KOs), whom he had on the verge of knockout from the first round of a dramatic fight.

Perez dropped Valera twice in the opening round and once in the fifth, clearly dominating the first half. A brave reaction from Valera and a point deduction to Perez caused an interesting closure in which Bryan Perez got a unanimous decision 94-92, 94-92 and 95-91.

In the co-main event of the “bubble” card promoted by Shuan Boxing at Hotel Catalonia Malecon, Santo Domingo, superwelter Carlos “Caballo Bronco” Adames (19-1, 15 KOs) stopped Bryan Medina (14-2, 10 KOs) by TKO.