Joselito Velazquez made his presence known in a new weight class with a decision win over a former world title challenger.
Velazquez dropped Andres Campos twice en route to an impressive knockout victory late Friday night at the Poliforum in his adopted hometown of Cancun, Mexico. With the win, Velazquez (20-1-1, 13 knockouts) captured a 115-pound regional title belt and a world ranking by the WBC.
About halfway through the opening round, a combination momentarily staggered Campos, who backed up against the ropes. Velazquez followed up, but Campos was able to withstand the attack while holding back or fighting back.
Velazquez landed a takedown in the second round, dropping Campos with a lead left to the head. Campos beat the count, and again threw the onslaught of hooks and crosses by Velazquez after action resumed.
Undeterred, Campos did his best work in rounds four and five, trying to walk Velazquez down to get his share of the punches.
The end of the fight came in the closing stages of round six when a left hook to the head sent Campos reeling back into a corner. Velazquez followed up to land a combination as Campos headed to the canvas, prompting referee Javier Espinoza to wave the fight off immediately at 2:09.
Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, Velazquez previously fought on March 22, dropping Luis Araujo Arellano once en route to a unanimous decision victory. On November 24, Velazquez defeated Pablo Carrillo by decision over 10 one-sided rounds.
The wins over Arrellano, Carrillo and now Campos took place in Cancun.
The 31-year-old has won his last five fights since a unanimous decision loss to former world titleholder Cristofer Rosales.
Velazquez has been trained for the past few years by Eddy Reynoso, who also trains Ring Magazine super middleweight champion and unified world titleholder Canelo Alvarez. He represented Mexico at the 2016 Olympics.
Campos, falls to 16-2-1, 5 KOs. In his previous fight in his hometown of Santiago, Chile on May 18, Campos fought to a majority decision against Edinson Martinez.
28-year-old Campos, who is managed by Tony Tolj, challenged then-IBF world flyweight titleholder Sunny Edwards on June 10 last year and lost by unanimous decision. Campos returned to action three months later, dropping Ben Ligas before winning by knockout in round seven.
In the co-main event, junior featherweight Celex Castro, who also lives in Cancun, improved to 18-0, 14 KOs, dropping Argentina’s Ckari Cani Mansilla twice en route to a third-round knockout victory.
Castro dropped Mansilla (17-4, 12 KOs) once in round two and again in round three before the fight was stopped at 2:34.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at (email protected)
