By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

What a way to celebrate Mexican Independence Day as Pacific Northwest featherweight, Victor Morales (19-0-1, 9 KOs) of Vancouver, Washington and Mexico City’s Edwin “Pupo” Palomares (18-5-2, 9 KOs) went to battle in the DAZN co-feature bout.

Ripping away with a combination to start, Morales connected as Palomares pressed. The Mexico City fighter came out aggressive in round two as Morales boxed, kept his distance connecting with one-two combinations as Palomares kept coming. In the third, Palomares closed some distance and kept Morales close, landing with straight rights and backing the Northwest fighter. Morales could not keep Palomares away in the fourth, despite connecting with solid punches up top, Palomares kept coming and worked as Morales retreated to close the round. Circling the ring in the fifth, Morales boxed ripped with combinations as Palomares kept coming and bringing the pressure.

The non-stop pressure from Palomares wasn’t making it easy for Morales as it continued in the sixth, Morales suffered a nasty cut on his left eye from a punch as Palomares was on the hunt. Before beginning the seventh, the ringside physician looked at Morales momentarily as the fight resumed. Palomares did not stop coming, targeting the cut as Morales kept his distance letting his hands go but the Mexican was relentless. Staying busy and keeping his distance, Morales avoided Palomares’s attack and fended off with the jab. With the final two rounds possibly determining the winner, it was Palomares that kept pressure as Morales let his hands go and stood busy in the ninth. Sensing the urgency to determine the winner, the final round it was Palomares applying the pressure as Morales kept the distance and boxed, the Mexico City fighter was making it a street fight doing anything he can to pull away, but Morales connected with big punches. What a finish it was as Palomares and Morales battled to the final bell.

In the end the judges scored the bout a shocking 100-90, 99-91, and a reasonable 96-94 as all three scorecards were in favor for Morales.

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IBF and WBO female minimumweight Wchampion, Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle (29-2, 9 KOs) retained her titles by winning a unanimous decision over a very tough Maria Santizo (11-4, 6 KOs) of Guatemala.

Santizo connected solidly in the opening seconds of the fight that stumbled the champ. Valle returned the favor in the closing seconds of the round as she tagged Santizo with a hard right. Continuing to go at each other in the second, Valle and Santizo didn’t take a step back fighting at a fast pace. The Costa Rican connected with straight shots in round three as Valle timed Santizo with the jab and one-two coming in. Santizo stood her ground in the fourth as she backed Valle, but the champ kept digging in and outworking her. There was no holding back from the tough Guatemalan in the fifth as Santizo kept staying in Valle’s face, making the champ work.

Halfway through the fight in the sixth round, Valle landed a solid right that stumbled Santizo. That did not stop Santizo from coming as Valle let her hands go in the seventh, timing Santizo perfectly with a solid right. Neither fighter appeared to be fading as the fast pace continued through eight with Santizo swinging and coming at Valle, the champ timed her with straight punches. Late in the fight in the ninth, Valle and Santizo continued to keep it competitive working away as neither showed signs of fading. The tenth and final round, Valle pressed and let her hands go as Santizo fought conservatively, keeping her distance, and stayed away from the champ. The judges scored the bout 100-90, 99-91, and 99-91 as Yokasta Valle successfully defends her IBF and WBO titles.

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Light heavyweight Darius “DFG” Fulghum (7-0, 7 KOs) of Mexico City stopped Ricardo “Tyson” Luna (25-11-2, 16 KO’s) of Mexico City in two rounds. There was a clash of heads early in the opening round as Luna was cut and bleeding on top of his head. Fulghumwas composed and did not rush things, popping the jab. The blood continued to flow from Luna’s cut onto his face, Fulghum dropped Luna. He got up but was not able to continue as the referee stopped the fight at 1:30 of the second round.

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Opening up the DAZN stream, middleweight Eric Priest (11-0, 7 KO’s) of Wichita Falls, Texas won a hard fought unanimous decision over Simon “Vikingo” Madsen (13-2, 10 KO’s) from Cancun by way of Denmark. It was an inside battle early on with Priest and Madsen head-to-head in the center for the first three rounds. Continuing inside and at a fast pace in the fourth, Priest and Madsen stood busy. At the halfway point in the fifth, Priest landed well as Madsen kept pressing. In the sixth, Priest stuck the jab and kept the stalking Madsen away and followed up with shots on the inside. Staying busy in the seventh, Priest outworked Madsen as he began taking the fight. The eighth and final round, Priest pressed and stood busy as Madsen finished strong in closing. After eight rounds the scores were 80-72, 79-73, and 76-76.