By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada

After a yearlong layoff, WBO featherweight champ Oscar Valdez (25-0, 20 KOs) showed an improved defense with new trainer and Eddy Reynoso and a vicious body attack to knockout fellow Olympian Carmine Tommasone (19-1, 5 KOs) in the 7th round to retain his title. The official time was 9 seconds.

Valdez started off tentative against the game Tommasone as he was picking his spots to the head and body. Tommasone showed he came to fight and countered Valdez at times. Valdez, though, took over the fight as he started landing big shots to the body. In the 4th round, Valdez dropped Tommasone twice, the first one was to the head and then to the body. Each time the Italian Tommasone got to his feet and continued to show he came to fight.

By the 5th round, Valdez had clobbered the body of Tommasone and looked like he was going to finish him off, especially after a double left hook to the body and a shot to the face. Tommasone right eye had turned purple and was swelling badly by this time. In the 7th round, Valdez finally landed the shot to end the fight, a big right uppercut that sent Tommasone to the canvas for good. Referee Mark Nelson waived it off immediately.

After the fight, Valdez said it took a little while to get the ring rust off but it felt good to be back in the ring and that he can’t be away from the ring long. He’s excited to fight anybody next and unify the titles.

As far as the jaw that was wired shut for two months after his breaking it against Scott Quigg, Valdez said, “I don’t really think about the jaw, only when it is mentioned.”