Lozano Stops Vidal In Four, Wants Omar Narvaez Next

By Jake Donovan

TAMPA, FL--

Daniel Lozano may or may not have a super flyweight title shot in his future. 

For now, he can take pride in claiming top prize in the

Boxeo Telemundo

super flyweight tournament.

The local (Bowling Green, FL) favorite earned the feat after bodypunching his way to a 4th round knockout over Jonathan Vidal in the finals Friday evening at A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa, Florida. 

The fight was viewed as a 50/50 matchup going in, and fought accordingly in terms of momentum swings. Vidal literally drew first blood, with jabs and right hands causing trickling plasma from Lozano's nose in the opening round.

What proved to be the difference, however, was Lozano's dedication to the body. Vidal disputed a knockdown call in round two, when Lozano flurried downstairs and pinned him to the point where the ropes were the only thing keeping the Puerto Rican prospect on his feet. 

Vidal tried to regain control of the fight in round three, but lacked the equalizer to spook Lozano. That factor came back to haunt him in a big way; Lozano unloaded with a wicked left hook downstairs that forced Vidal to collapse to the canvas, withering in pain as referee Telis Assemenios immediately halted the contest.

With the win, Lozano improves to 13-1 (10KOs). The local favorite scores his second straight knockout, having stopped Antonio 'Tostado' Garcia in eight rounds in this very same venue just two months ago to advance to the finals.

His win came two weeks after Vidal marched to the finals with an 8th round knockout of his own. His stoppage of Juan Kantun registered the highest rating in the history of Boxeo Telemundo. 

Lozano has come a long way since the lone loss of his career, an 8th round stoppage at the hands of Matthew Villanueva last October. 

"It probably wasn't the best idea to face him after a 20-month layoff," Lozano said of the setback. "But no excuses, he beat me and I give him credit."

With two big knockout wins and Villanueva reportedly done with the sport - thus ruling out the possibility of a rematch for the time being, the rising super flyweight believes it's time for bigger and better things. 

"After scoring knockouts over Tostado and now Vidal, I believe I'm ready for a title shot and Omar Narvaez," Lozano insists.

UNDERCARD

It's been a rough six weeks for Jose Carrillo. The newcomer from Puerto Rico came up short this past August in his pro debut, but was brutalized by Sammy Valentin inside of two rounds in their welterweight bout. Valentin was making his own pro debut, but fought with the fury and wisdom of a veteran, landing home run shots and pounding Carrillo's body until forcing his corner to request a stoppage, which came at 1:57 of round two for the first knockout of the evening's undercard. 

Omar Albanil (2-0, 0KOs) enjoyed his second straight fight - and win - in his hometown, overcoming several anxious moments to earn a four-round split decision over debuting Clifford Grey. Scores were . Grey managed to dislodge Albanil's mouthpiece in the opening round and land enough lefts to draw blood from a cut over his opponent's right eye, but his best moments were too far spread apart to make an impact on two judges who somehow had it a shutout (40-36). The lone dissenting judge had Grey winning 39-37. 

Armando Alvarez - the boxer and not the all-star Telemundo producer of the same name - pitched a four-round shutout over Leanthony Flemining (0-1, 0KOs) in a matchup of super welterweight debutants. Scores were 40-36 on all three cards for Alvarez (1-0, 0KOs).

Local featherweight Ricky Tomlinson was given a major scare from Jayron Santiago, but escaped with an unpopular split decision. Scores were 38-37 (twice) for Tomlinson and 38-37 for Santiago, who floored Tomlinson in the fourth and final round and battered the unbeaten prospect for the duration of the frame. It wasn't enough to sway the judges, though the crowd was on the Boricua's side as they emphatically booed the final decision.

Radivoje Kaladzic remained unbeaten, but was forced to go the distance in scoring a six-round shutout over Rayco Saunders. Scores were 60-53 across the board for Kaladzic, who scored an opening round knockdown but settled for an honest night's work as Saunders (23-25-2, 10KOs) refused to go away quietly. 

Trained by Dan Birmingham, the well-schooled Kaladzic improves to 16-0 (10KOs).

Jonathan Vidal 115  Vs. Daniel Lozano 115 - 10 Rounds, Super Flyweights

Emanuel De Jesus 150 Vs. Aaron Steadman 149 - 6 Rounds, Welterweights

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox