By Cliff Rold

Friday night at the Coliseo Cosme Beitia Salamo in Catano, Puerto Rico, 25-year old hometown native Carlos Velazquez (12-0, 10 KO) of Miami, Florida forced an early end to a scheduled eight-round main event, stopping 22-year old Eduardo Arcos (15-2, 12 KO) with a barrage of blows in the fifth round.

Velazquez came in just below the Jr. Lightweight limit at 129 ½, Arcos spot on the limit at 130.

Velazquez, four inches taller at 5’10, began with a wild lead left hook and Arcos went to the body with a quick flurry when the two men stepped close together.  Velazquez’s next attempt at a lead left did not miss, connecting flush and driving Arcos to the ropes where another left found his cheek.  Off balance, Arcos moved away to his left a step and then used his elbows to create room before launching his own right hand to the face of Velazquez.  Velazquez pulled his guard high, blocking and slipping and Arcos circled away.

Staying on the back foot, Arcos sought to counter the pressuring Velazquez, finding glove instead of flesh, neither man using more than a token jab as the pace slowed in the opening rounds final two minutes.

Velazquez continued to block well in the early going of the second, launching single rights and lefts as he stalked.  Clean, landing blows were at a minimum until a right for Velazquez broke through in the final minute, a slapping counter left added shortly after.  Inside the final twenty seconds, a Velazquez left rocked Arcos and a right had Arcos off balance near the middle of the ring. 

In round three, it was again in the final minute that the best action would unfold, Arcos finding some success with a series of lefts to the body and Velazquez ripping some sharp rights.  Arcos went to the body again early in the fourth but continued his struggle to land right hands off his occasional jabs.  A counter right for Velazquez connected and the taller man landed a pair of jabs but offered nothing behind them.  Both men battled at close quarters down the stretch with Velazquez’s more compact shots landing more often than Arcos’s wide, sweeping blows.

The superior accuracy of Velazquez began to paid dividends in the first minute of round five.  A clipping left to the chin wobbled Arcos and two more came briefly behind it.  A right kept Arcos off balance, then another, before a left hook buckled Arcos’s knees.  Sensing opportunity, Velazquez stayed on his man with lefts and rights, patiently letting Arcos swing and then throwing in between his wider arms.  Arcos attempted to clinch as his back touched the ropes but Velazquez wiggled away as referee Israel Quinonez Falu took a close look at Arcos.  A right sent Arcos to the ropes and two jarring left jabs sent his head whipping backwards.  Falu stepped in before more damage could be done as Arcos stepped back, blood streaming from a fresh wound over his left eye.  The time of the stoppage was 1:19 of round five.

The bout was Arcos’s second straight loss by stoppage, finishing Friday night on his feet after retiring after round seven in November of last year against undefeated Christopher Martin.  Velazquez advances on, his undefeated mark still intact, with dreams of title contention to pursue.  Velazquez is currently unrated by any of the sports notable sanctioning organizations.

Velazquez was not the only undefeated fighter to keep his “0” on the night in a pair of all-Puerto Rican battles.

25-year old Bantamweight Jonathan Vidal (11-0, 7 KO), 116, dropped 26-year old Felix Perez (7-2, 3 KO), 118, with a right behind the head in round two, weathered a strong rally in the third, and added a punctuating knockdown in the waning seconds of the sixth and final round to score a unanimous decision by scores of 60-52, 58-54 and 59-53.  Falu was again the referee.

20-year old Lightweight Juan Gonzalez (9-0, 8 KO), 132, an eye catching 6’0 tall, dropped outmatched 20-year old Christopher Rivera (3-5, 3 KO), 129 ¾, in round two and appeared on his way to doing so again when Rivera quit after slipping to the floor.  Rivera favored his right hand as if it were broken.  The official time was 2:40 of the second round.

The card was broadcast in the U.S. on Telefutura as part of its “Solo Boxeo” series, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com