Del Valle looks sharp outclassing Nguyen

Undefeated featherweight prospect Luis Del Valle shined while outclassing fellow former amateur standout Dat Nguyen over 10 rounds in the main event of a ShoBox: The New Generation broadcast from New York City on Saturday.

Del Valle (13-0, 10 knockouts), a 24-year-old boxer-puncher from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, thoroughly out-boxed and outworked Nguyen to unanimous scores of 99-91.

Nguyen (17-2, 6 KOs), a 28-year-old brawler from Vero Beach, Fla., was as game and tough (perhaps too tough) as advertised but he lacked the technique, timing and power to compete with Del Valle.

The Vietnam-born fighter’s 20-month layoff coming into Saturday’s Showtime-televised fight didn’t help his cause. However, Del Valle’s form was so sharp it’s a fair bet that a more-active version of Nguyen would have been outclassed just as easily.

Del Valle was focused and busy from the opening bell. He continually beat Nguyen to the punch while stepping around the forward stalking fighter. Del Valle, who remained composed throughout the contest, even when he had Nguyen reeling, flashed a nice jab, counter punched effectively and often ripped his foe with body-head combinations whenever he pinned his gutsy foe against the ropes.

Nguyen, who landed a few single power shots in rounds three and four, never gave up -- even when he was taking a bad beating during some of the late rounds -- but he did not have an answer for Del Valle’s superior conditioning, technique, and ring generalship.

The hunch here is that nobody Del Valle fights will have the answer until he begins facing top-15 contenders.

Del Valle’s countryman and promotional stablemate Jonathan Gonzalez did not look as sharp in the co-featured bout of the broadcast, but the 21-year-old junior middleweight prospect got the job done by pounding out a 10-round unanimous decision over former welterweight contender Richard Gutierrez.

Gonzalez (14-0, 13 KOs), who represented Puerto Rico in the 2008 Olympic Games, outworked the smaller, older man in every round en route to scores of 99-91 and 98-92 (twice). Gutierrez (26-7-1, 16 KOs), a 32-year-old Colombian veteran who has become a stepping stone opponent in recent years, lost his third bout in a row.

Photos by Tom Casino-Showtime.