At the moment, the lightweight division is arguably the hottest weight class in all of boxing. On the women’s side of the division, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano are gearing up for a sold-out battle at Madison Square Garden. Not to mention, Mikaela Mayer has hinted that she may want to move up in weight to fight the winner of that fight. Meanwhile, Devin Haney is heading down to Australia to fight George Kambosos for the undisputed lightweight title. Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia could also meet in an non-title bout that would sell out nearly any arena in the country. Simply put, there’s a lot going on. As a result, it’s easy for fighter like Jose Valenzuela to fly under the radar.

At 22 years old, Jose Valenzuela has emerged as one of the lightweight division’s most promising prospects. Heading into his latest fight, he had amassed a record of 11 wins and zero losses with seven knockouts. With that said, many believed that he would be pushed to the limit in his 12th pro bout against former world champion Francisco Vargas. Much to the crowd’s surprise, he made quick work of Vargas. With just over half of the first hand left to go, Valenzuela landed a left hand that sent Vargas to the canvas and he was unable to recover.

“I was expecting him to come forward, throw a lot of punches, move forward aggressively,” he said after the fight, according to Boxing Scene.

“But, you know, I stayed patient and was using my jab and going to the body, and waited for an opening.”

Having notched his most impressive victory yet, Valenzuela will look to move up in the lightweight rankings as the year goes on.

WOW ?@rayoboxing KOs Vargas in the 1st round with a left hand?#ValenzuelaVargas | Order #SpenceUgas: https://t.co/mIiYdmufbG pic.twitter.com/ybEs2eOJGS

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) April 17, 2022

The post Lightweight Prospect Jose Valenzuela Scores Impressive First-Round Knockout Against Francisco Vargas appeared first on Def Pen.