Joselito Velazquez made his presence known in a new weight class with a decisive win over a former world title contender.
Velazquez knocked out Andres Campos twice en route to a stunning victory Friday night at the Poliforum in his hometown of Cancun, Mexico. With the victory, Velazquez (20-1-1, 13 knockouts) retained the 115-pound regional title belt and the WBC world title.
About halfway through the opening round, a combination briefly rocked Campos, who backed up to the ropes. Velazquez followed, but Campos was able to resist this attack as he was angry or fighting with great speed.
Velazquez scored a knockdown in the second round, dropping Campos with a lead left hook to the head. Campos hit the count, and again, faced an onslaught of hooks and crosses that Velazquez threw after the action resumed.
Bravely, Campos did his best work in the fourth and fifth rounds, trying to wear down Velazquez to land his punch.
The end of the fight came in the final stages of the sixth round as the left hook backfired and Campos backed into the corner. Velazquez followed up with a combination as Campos made his way to the canvas, prompting referee Javier Espinoza to wave the fight off immediately at 2:09.
Velazquez, a native of Oaxaca, Mexico, previously fought on March 22, knocking down Luis Araujo Arellano once en route to a unanimous decision win. On November 24, Velazquez defeated Pablo Carrillo by decision in 10 one-sided rounds.
The victories of Arrellano, Carrillo, and now Campos happened in Cancun.
The 31-year-old has won his last five fights since losing to former world champion Christopher Rosales.
Velazquez has been trained for the past few years by Eddy Reynoso, who also trains Ring Magazine super middleweight champion and joint world champion Canelo Alvarez. He represented Mexico at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Campos, falls to 16-2-1, 5 KOs. In his previous fight in his hometown of Santiago, Chile on May 18, Campos struggled to a multiple decision against Edinson Martinez.
Campos, 28, who is managed by Tony Tolj, challenged Sunny Edwards who held the IBF flyweight title on June 10 last year, losing by one decision. Campos returned to action three months later, knocking out Ben Ligas before winning by knockout in the seventh round.
In the main event, junior featherweight Celex Castro, also a native of Cancun, improved to 18-0, 14 KO, dropping Argentina’s Ckari Cani Mansilla twice en route to a third-round submission victory.
Castro knocked out Mansilla (17-4, 12 KOs) once in the second round and again in the third before the fight was stopped at 2:34.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has handled boxing in Southern California and internationally since 2000. Francisco covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. They can be reached at [email protected]
