Omar Andres Narvaez vs. Victor Zaleta RBR

I missed the first round and a half, but Narvaez is doing his usual business, swarming in with power punches and Zaleta looks to be trying to outbox him.

Round 3

Narvaez puts together hooking shots with both hands and darts in frequently with 2 and 3 punch combos. Zaleta is trying to hold him off with jabs and nail him with 1-2s, leaning into them and getting warned often for leading with his head. Narvaez dodges a right hand at the end of the round and walks calmly to his corner, looking like he's in the zone.

10-9 OAN

 

Round 4

Narvaez times Zaleta with right jabs and left hands up the middle while backing up. Zaleta tries to flip some body shots at him from underneath coming forward, and is missing big overhand rights. Narvaez comes forward and lands a hard 1-2. They begin taking turns leading and pressing forward, each tossing low punches. Narvaez keeps one of his offensive spells going and begins to move laterally around Zaleta hitting him with quick lead lefts and hooks. Narvaez is using a lot of head and shoulder movement to slip shots at mid range.

10-9 Narvaez

 

Round 5

Narvaez continues to be elusive while within or just at the end of Zaleta's reach. Hard left to the body by Narvaez. They come together awkwardly and the referee issues warnings to both, maybe to watch the heads. Zaleta tries to bash Narvaez into a corner but is constantly slicing the air over his exposed back or just brushing it as Narvaez weaves in and out on him. Narvaez gets his right jab going and tags Zaleta up close a few times, then making him miss and countering him in the face again. The crowd is getting worked up as they sense Narvaez really taking firm control. Zaleta jabs his way forward and Narvaez slips all his jabs and a right hand. Narvaez is leaning left, right and backward with his hands at his sides and drawing Zaleta into counter punching opportunities.

10-9 Narvaez

 

They just displayed a graphic showing it as a shutout for Narvaez through 5, presumably the unofficial scorecard of TYC.

Round 6

Zaleta has a point taken for a low blow.

Narvaez lands a hard left on the belt line. Zaleta pivots on his waist and throws hard shots with both hands, chasing Narvaez into the ropes and only landing some but outworking Narvaez for a stretch. Narvaez then takes over by moving into medium-long range and catching Zaleta at the end of quick, long power punches all while constantly moving and making himself unavailable. Hard fast flurries from Narvaez back Zaleta to the ropes. Zaleta turns southpaw himself and misses a wild right hook. Narvaez digs a left hand to the belly, then flurries at the bell. Both men keep fighting after the bell! The ref splits them up, and neither gets penalized.

10-8 Narvaez

 

Round 7

Hard 1-2 from Narvaez. Zaleta comes in with his head down, trying to press up against Narvaez and hit him on the body. Narvaez complains of a headbutt as he backs away, pawing at his brow and looking at the ref. Narvaez takes big steps backward and to the right and scrapes Zaleta's face with right jabs and a sprinkling of straight lefts. Zaleta misses an uppercut on the inside. Narvaez backs up quickly as Zaleta charges with some chopping blows. Narvaez falls just short with a left hand lead and then pulls straight back and away from a counter 1-2. Narvaez lands a four punch combo and then leans away from a Zaleta right hand before the bell.

10-9 Narvaez

Zaleta just can't solve the puzzle of his defense. He has a good chin, though.

 

Round 8

Zaleta is rushing in with wild shots from the hip, and has Narvaez focusing entirely on shrinking away and trying to stay off the ropes rather than counter. Zaleta is warned sternly for an unintentional low blow and told he's on the verge of having another point taken. Narvaez can only get off a pair of uppercuts at a time as Zaleta keeps walking him down and reaching around with body shots or clubbing blows across the throat. Finally Narvaez gets an extended flurry off stepping forward for a moment. Zaleta walks right into a lead left hand but doesn't slow down. Zaleta hangs back against the ropes as Narvaez keeps flurrying and missing while Zaleta looks to time him and thread the needle with a power punch.

10-9 Zaleta, his first round that I've seen.

 

The commentator just said something to the effect of "ganador de puntos se imposible", probably meaning that for Zaleta "to win on points is just about impossible" at this point.

Round 9

Narvaez comes forward ducking over hand rights and landing power salvos. Left uppercuts and right hooks string together as Zaleta is pushed to the ropes. Now Zaleta comes forward but doesn't accomplish much before Narvaez pokes him in the belly and starts a long combo rising from body to head coming forward. Zaleta might have been buzzed by a left and leans against the ropes where Narvaez picks him off. Zaleta swings his arms in wide baseball-bat swings but Narvaez easily navigates between them without making any contact. Narvaez touches him at phonebooth distance until the bell.

Narvaez 10-9

 

Round 10

Zaleta comes forward pumping his fists out straight and Narvaez tries to show off by slipping with just his head but takes a few flush on the chin. They come together hooking and Narvaez plants the top of his head into Zaleta's chest and wings high shots up at his face. Furious punches are exchanged as they walk each other all across and around the ring. A lot of shoeshining from both, taking turns. HARD right hooks from Narvaez, high and low. Zaleta opens up to throw a right hand and eats a right hook. Narvaez is putting lots of punches together now and backs Zaleta into a corner. Zaleta flurries his way out by shaking his fists into Narvaez's stomach but isn't landing anything significant and is getting bombarded. Narvaez walks him into the adjacent corner and then along the next set of ropes and keeps hitting him with fast punches designed to score more than hurt.

 

Round 11

Narvaez harasses Zaleta with straight but less damaging volleys as well as high looping shots that hurt a bit more. Zaleta can't stay out of the corners and is now getting rocked, with the ref taking a close look. Narvaez can't miss and Zaleta can't hit him cleanly. This is about as pure a demonstration of hit and don't get hit as you can find. Zaleta is on the ropes trying to punch his way off but just getting blinded and slapped silly by the sheer workrate - not to mention accuracy - of Narvaez, who isn't even throwing anything 100% and might otherwise be able to force a stoppage.

 

Round 12

Lunging lead left from Narvaez, and he zips outside again. Zaleta gives chase to the ropes , where he is countered. Zaleta finally lands a right hand but is punished with a right hook that lands at the same time. Zaleta doesn't give up, jabbing his way in and trying muscle his way inside by pumping hard right hands. Narvaez tucks his chin and combines several high looping shots in answer, planting his feet and driving Zaleta back. Narvaez gets on his toes and follows Zaleta to the ropes while winging wide looping shots and ever moving his head, with Zaleta jabs and rights whistling by. Zaleta keeps pushing out with his forearms and gaining a yard here and there but Narvaez inevitably drives him back toward the corner with his flurries of looped punching from high angles. Both trade long shots from a couple of feet away down the stretch, both missing.

Well, this should be a massively wide UD for the champion.

 

Narvaez has already strapped his belt around his chest before having his gloves removed and waiting to hear the official scorecards.

 

It sounded like all three might have been 120-107; it was hard to make one of them out.

In any event, it's a successful defense for the WBO "super mosca" campeon.