Nicholas Walters lost his title on the scale at the weigh in. He weighed in 1.4 pounds over the contracted weight and was unable to make the weight. So he was stripped of the title before the fight even started.
This was really too bad because it was a pretty dominating performance by Walters who dominated his opponent Miguel Marriaga throughout the fight. Walters really put it to Marriaga in the early rounds by going to the body with really hard shots. Marriaga seemed to be throwing a lot of shots wide, so they were largely ineffective.
Everyone was really expecting a slugfest in this one, but it turned out to be more of a chess match with Walters coming out on top. Walters ended up winning a unanimous decision 119-108, 118-109, and 117-110. After the fight Walters made mention of his 8 month long layoff, "The crowd is used to Nicholas knocking people out, they have to understand I am coming off 8 months and I hurt him a few times. But he was tough."
Felix Verdejo is being touted as the next big thing to come out of Puerto Rico and he did not disappoint. Verdejo fought Ivan Najera won a unanimous decision by the scores of 100-88 on two cards and 99-89.
Verdejo was as advertised dropping Najera twice in the fight. He definitely looked ready for prime time. Najera was game, but Verdejo was just way too much for him. After the fight Verdejo said, "This is one of the toughest opponents I have faced. I dropped him twice but he kept coming."
