LOS ANGELES – Edwin De Los Santos was an unknown fighter a few weeks, but made a name for himself Sunday night at the expense of highly-touted prospect Jose Valenzuela.

De Los Santos overcame a knockdown to stop Valenzuela in round 3 before a boisterous crowd at Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as Staples Center).

De Los Santos, who resides in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, improves to 15-1, 14 KOs.

Both southpaw fighters had their moments in the first round as Valenzuela landed the more telling punches early on. 

Midway during the second round, Valenzuela landed a left to the body, following by a left cross to the head that dropped De Los Santos to the canvas. De Los Santos beat the count and stunned Valenzuela with a left of his own.

Moments later, De Los Santos dropped Valenzuela to the canvas. As Valenzuela was on the canvas, De Los Santos followed up and landed a punch, prompting referee Ray Corona to deduct a point from De Los Santos. Valenzuela was still on wobbly legs as the action resumed, but was able to make it out the round. 

Moments into the third round, De Los Santos dropped Valenzuela with a left cross to the head. Valenzuela beat the count, but was on wobbly legs. To his credit, Valenzuela fought on, but was stunned again by another left cross to the head by De Los Santos. Referee Ray Corona immediately stepped in and wisely stopped the fight at 1:08.

De Los Santos, who is promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz, took the fight against Valenzuela last week after original opponent, former contender Jezreel Corrales, withdrew from the fight due to visa issues. 

Valenzuela, who is originally from Los Mochis, Mexico and now trains in Seattle, Washington, falls to 12-1, 8 KOs. In his previous fight on April 16, Valenzuela knocked out former world junior lightweight titleholder Francisco Vargas in the opening round. 

In a clash of unbeaten junior middleweights, Joey Spencer defeated Kevin Salgado by unanimous decision.

The fight was void of action as both worked behind a jab. When they did engage, Spencer landed the more-effective punches throughout the fight. 

Scores were 99-91, 99-91, and 100-90 for Spencer, who goes to 16-0, 10 KOs. 

Salgado, who resides in Mexico City, drops to 14-1-1, 9 KOs. 

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 by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

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