Jose Valenzuela teed off on Austin Dulay, knocking down the Tennessean a total of four times en route to a fourth-round technical knockout victory Saturday at The Armory in Minneapolis.

Valenzuela (11-0, 7 KOs) knocked down Dulay (14-3, 10 KOs) three times in the first round, once in the second and almost again in the third before officials stepped in to save the courageous Dulay from further damage. 

The damage increasingly accumulated as each second passed, and as the action got underway in the fourth round, concerned referee Charlie Fitch walked Dulay over to ringside physician for observation, who advised for the fight to be stopped. 

Dulay was clearly distraught and devastated by the decision, as he exclaimed: “No, no, no. What? Why?”

The 22-year-old Valenzuela, an up-and-coming lightweight prospect and Seattle-based southpaw from Mexico who trains alongside David Benavidez, leaned on a vicious attack featuring devastating combinations to the head and debilitating shots to the body to destroy Dulay in a sensational performance.  

Dulay ate plenty of heavy leather as Valenzuela dished punches as he pleased. 

In total, Valenzuela landed 114 of 196 punches – 38 of which were to the body. Dulay was game, however, landing a handful of several meaningful shots himself in the middle of the one-sided traffic. He was 25 of 119 on his punches.

The official stop to the fight came at two seconds of the fourth round. 

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