Valdez wins decision in brutal bout with Quigg

CARSON » Oscar Valdez persevered through a grueling challenge from England’s Scott Quigg in a steady rain to claim a unanimous decision victory on Saturday night.

Valdez (24- 0, 19 KOs) retained his WBO featherweight title while fighting under a canopy at StubHub Center’s famed outdoor ring. He got a heavy test from Quigg (34-2-2), who missed weight for the bout and appeared to benefit from that extra strength in the punishing bout.

Valdez’s jaw was apparently broken during the fight, and he was taken to a hospital in nearby Torrance. Quigg had heavy damage on his face as the fighters embraced at the final bell.

Two judges scored the bout 117-111 for Valdez, and the third had it 118-110. The Associated Press scored it 116-112 for Valdez, who rose to the challenges of the unusual conditions and an oversized opponent. Rain fell throughout the night across the Los Angeles area, forcing several hundred hearty fans to buy plastic ponchos to survive another night of fights at the outdoor ring that has been the site of countless memorable bouts in California’s usually pleasant evening weather. Valdez and Quigg lived up to that legacy even in the rain, and the dampened fans saw a show featuring several first- round stoppages before Valdez and Quigg finally hit the ring. Valdez had more pace than Quigg early, peppering him with shots in the first three rounds. Quigg found his stride and strength in the fourth round and again in the fifth, when he appeared to hurt Valdez seriously with a big right hook.

A bloody cut opened inside Valdez’s mouth in the sixth round as the fight got increasingly taxing.

Quigg hurt Valdez in the 10th, and the Englishman landed a low blow on Valdez in the 11th. After Valdez shook off the pain, he rushed back from the stoppage with a heavy flurry that nearly floored Quigg.

Along with the miserable weather, the proceedings were dampened by Quigg’s inability to make weight. Quigg came in at 128.8 pounds on Friday, a hefty 2.8 pounds over the limit.

Quigg was fined 20 percent of his $100,000 purse by the California commission, and he is likely to be required to make an ad- ditional payment to Valdez. Quigg had won three straight fights since his move to featherweight, but the Bury, England, native acknowledged that he had badly botched his weight cut for his first fight in North America.

Quigg also lost his chance to fight for a major title in his second weight class. He was the WBA super bantamweight champion until February 2016, when he lost a split decision to Carl Frampton and subsequently moved up to 126 pounds.

Valdez, a two-time Mexican Olympian, has evolved into an entertaining champion who can draw fans in the U. S. Southwest, where he was partly raised in Tucson, Arizona. He headlined in Carson last spring, beating Colombia’s Miguel Marriaga in an entertaining decision.