The Puerto Rican power of Bryan Chevalier proved to be too much for Carlos Zambrano to handle, as the island fighter scored three knockdowns and a third-round stoppage on Thursday night in their super featherweight fight.
The 26-year-old Chevalier (15-1, 12 KOs) owned a 3 ½ inch height advantage and used his size to zing Zambrano (26-2, 11 KOs) from the get-go.
Chevalier scored a flash first-round knockdown when he held the arm of Zambrano with his left and connected with a half-hearted punch to the back of the head with his right. Referee Ramón Peña, however, didn’t see the infraction, and the sequence was ruled a knockdown.
It was a round that Chevalier was winning anyway against the 36-year-old Peruvian.
Zambrano was spun around in the second and hit with another blow to the back of the head, stumbling face-first into the ropes. Peña offered a warning, but didn’t deduct a point from Chevalier. Chevalier banked another round with his steady attack.
The third round featured a more definitive exchange when Chevalier scored two knockdowns, with the latter ending the fight. The damage started with a left hook to the body and a right to the head, dropping Zambrano.
Zambrano picked himself off the canvas but was dropped again seconds later with a body shot, and the fight was called off 2 minutes and 21 seconds into the round after Peña counted to 10.
“I had the height and youth advantage but he had the experience,” said Chevalier. “I’m very happy and content with my performance. I am the best featherweight from Puerto Rico.”
Both boxers were coming off long layoffs, with Chevalier stuck on the sidelines for 453 days and Zambrano away from the sport for nearly four years, and winless since 2015.
The undercard fight took place Thursday as part of the Ring City USA show on NBC Sports Network at the Felix Pintor Gym in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico headlined by the 154-pound bout between Serhii Bohachuk (18-0, 18 KOs) and Brandon Adams (22-3, 14 KOs).
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com