Samuel Arnold III did his best to make the most out of his homecoming headliner.
The lack of engagement from Mexico’s Julio Cesar Ortega made for a one-sided and anticlimactic main event, which Arnold ended at 0:40 of the third round. Arnold scored two knockdowns, the latter from a jab and which forced the end of their super middleweight bout Saturday evening at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas.
“I came and did what I had to do,” Arnold told BoxingScene after his win. “We never seen the guy fight before. The first round, he elbowed me in the eye so I got a little wild. I couldn’t really see him. I just worked behind the jab. Everything came from it.
“Thanks to everyone in my city for supporting me. Next up is to crack the top 15 and then on to becoming the champion of the world.”
Arnold, 12-0 (8 KOs), fought in Dallas for the first time since November 2022. The hope was for a more memorable showing than what came of their scheduled eight-rounder.
Ortega, 9-2 (6 KOs), had other ideas.
The upside to the Baja California, Mexico native was that he’d never been dropped or stopped as a pro.
However, he unfortunately fought very much like an opponent whose last pro bout came more than eight years ago.
Arnold did his best to sift through the nonsense. He floored Ortega in the second round, which followed right hands and a body shot. It was the first official knockdown among at least three trips to the canvas through the first two rounds.
A pair of jabs early in the third was enough to convince Ortega to take a knee. The body language was detected by referee Laurence Cole, who immediately waved off the contest.
“Sam looked great,” promoter Daniel Otter told BoxingScene. “He is ready to go from prospect to contender, and at only 21 years of age the sky is the limit.”
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