Knockout artist Brandun Lee took another step up in competition, but the results remained the same, as one of boxing’s most promising prospects maintained his undefeated record by stopping Juan Heraldez on Saturday night. 

The Coachella Valley product Lee outboxed Heraldez for seven rounds and then punctuated his performance with a devastating one-punch knockout to close the show. Lee landed a crushing right hand to the head of Heraldez to close the show at 2 minutes 11 seconds of the seventh round and referee Gerard White waved off the fight before the count of ten.

It was an accumulation of punches that ultimately led to the landmark moment, as Lee outlanded Heraldez 126 (62 power punches) to 36 in the fight. Lee also landed 64 jabs and 50 body punches.

"I have to watch the fight back but my dad didn't like my performance. He's a perfectionist. Everyone here thought I would take Juan out earlier, but I wanted to show everyone I can box," Lee said after the fight. 

"I kept seeing that Juan was moving to his right and my right hand was coming up short. So I knew I had to jab and box him and make him forget about that right hand. Then I made the adjustment in the seventh round and got him out of there.

"I’m ready for anyone. It's ultimately up to my team, but I say bring them on."

The fight started off at a furious and hard-hitting pace as the 22-year-old Lee (24-0, 22 KOs) and Heraldez exchanged heavy leather. Lee pressed forward with a strong jab, one-two and looping right hook. Heraldez enjoyed his best moment of the round by landing an overhand right and left hook. At the end of the round, another left hook landed on Lee. 

The action continued in the center of the ring in round two. Heraldez did not give Lee angles to exploit and showed early on he would not be yet another early KO victim on Lee’s ledger. All of Lee’s professional career KOs had come within three rounds. 

Lee looked to do some damage and led with a left hook in round three that momentarily knocked Heraldez off balance. Lee also connected with an uppercut at the end of the round as the pace somewhat slowed. 

Lee connected with a left jab and lead right hand to split the guard of Heraldez in the fourth round. Heraldez was offering one punch at a time while Lee was firing off combinations. 

Lee entered the fifth round for the first time in his career and looked every bit comfortable as he continued dictating the terms by applying consistent pressure with combinations. The offense caused Heraldez to begin bleeding from the nose.

In the sixth, Heraldez appeared to start fading a bit. His lack of punching power allowed for Lee to come forward and deliver a double jab and place punches perfectly. 

By the seventh, all of the punches Heraldez had absorbed finally showed, and a strong right from Lee finished the fight. 

Heraldez (16-2-1, 10 KOs) missed the contracted weight limit of 142 pounds during the Friday weigh-in and surrendered 20% of his $40,000 purse through a fine. The 31-year-old Heraldez was fighting for the first time since suffering his first career loss via third-round knockout to Regis Prograis in October 2020. He’s now winless in his last three fights. 

Lee is now riding a 15-fight knockout streak.

Lee, who was born in Yuba City, Calif. and fights out of La Quinta Calif., was fighting for the second time consecutive time at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. Lee has fought all over the country on Showtime but was fighting for just the second time in the Golden State. 

The fight opened Showtime’s telecast headlined by a bout between WBC bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire and Reymart Gaballo.

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