Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas - In his first defense of the WBO bantamweight title, Oscar Valdez (21-0, 19KOs) broke down and stopped Hiroshige Osawa (30-4, 19KOs) in the seventh round.

Valdez captured the vacant title in July with a vicious knockout of previously undefeated Matias Rueda of Argentina.

Osawa came out swinging at the first bell, but it didn't take long before Valdez was backing him. Valdez was boxing, staying calm and controlling the fight. The second round was more the same for Valdez, who started opening up with big punches that were tagging the challenger against the ropes.

Valdez continued to unload with hard shots in the third. It was starting to become target practice for the champion. Osawa was unable to to land any of his counters and not jabbing enough to keep Valdez from coming inside.

In the fourth, a huge shot by Valdez decked Osawa down hard. He beat the count and continued to take punishment against the ropes before grabbing Valdez in close for a chance to clear his head. For reasons unknown, Valdez took his foot off the gas in the fifth and seemed content to simply box for the full three minutes.

After a lackluster sixth, Valdez let his hands go and battered Osawa against the ropes in the seventh with at least ten unanswered shots before the referee jumped in to wave off the contest.