Featherweight prospect Oscar Valdez knocked out Jose Ramirez in the third round on Saturday at the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas.

Valdez, a two-time Mexican Olympian who is managed by Frank Espinoza, improves to 15-0 with 14 knockouts. Ramirez falls to 25-6, 15 KOs.

The 24-year-old fighter was in control from the opening bell, beating Ramirez during most of the exchanges. His punches were much shorter and on point over Ramirez’s wider punches.

As the bout progressed, Valdez’s punches began to take a toll on Ramirez, particularly the left hook to the head. That punch kept finding its mark, especially during the second round.

Midway through the third round, an accidental head-butt opened a cut over the right eye of Ramirez. The bout continued after a ringside physician examined the wound.

The end came moments later when a left hook to Ramirez’s belt line dropped him to his knees. Ramirez winced in obvious pain and remained on the canvas as referee Jon Schorle counted him out at 2:05.

Falcao dominates Rojas

In the opening bout of the UniMas telecast, middleweight prospect Esquiva Falcao won a one-sided six round unanimous decision over Omar Rojas.

The 2012 Olympic silver medalist from Brazil improves to 8-0, 5 KOs, while Rojas drops to 3-3, 1 KO.

The Falcao-Rojas bout replaced the Jessie Magdaleno-John Mark Apolanario bout when Apolanario was not able to licensed by the Texas Commission for Saturday’s bout because of a medical condition.

It was all Falcao as he dominated the action from start to finish. Falcao walked Rojas down and landed at will with lefts and rights to the head. As the bout progressed, Rojas was in defensive mode, staying away from the amateur star and throwing one punch at a time.

All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Falcao.

Notes:

– Junior middleweight Eddie Ramirez (8-16-1, 3 KOs) won a four round unanimous decision over Alberto Navarro (3-10-2, 1 KO) to round out the UniMas telecast.

– Top Rank promoted the card.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California since 2000. Salazar also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing