If you looked up the word bravado in the dictionary, you're likely to find the name Chris Colbert next to it. The brazen New Yorker's words may come across as hubris-laden but Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela saw right through his facade.
When the two initially met in March, the 24-year-old scored an early knockdown in the first round but would go on to lose a close unanimous decision. Last month, roughly six months later, the pair met again. This time, there was nothing controversial about their ending.
At the halfway mark, Colbert found himself face down on the canvas, unresponsive for several minutes while Valenzuela posed for pictures.
Before officially taking care of business, Colbert (17-2, 6 KOs) issued audacious threat after audacious threat, vowing to beat his man with ease. From Valenzuela’s point of view, however, there was nothing authentic about Colbert’s words. Deep down inside, the highly-ranked contender had a feeling that Colbert was actually terrified.
“I knew he was scared of me,” said Valenzuela during an interview with MillCity Boxing. “I knew he was scared of me since the first fight. I could feel it.”
From the moment the opening bell rang, Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs) sat down on his punches and attempted to take Colbert’s head off. It took just a few seconds of that opening round for the 24-year-old to send his man to the mat. He may have peeled himself up, but Valenzuela continued to dominate.
In the sixth, the show was violently closed by the buoyant Valenzuela. As he previously mentioned, he doesn’t believe for a single second that Colbert wanted to share the ring with him. So, there’s an obvious question that needs to be asked. If Colbert was in fact frightened, why would he agree to run things back? That question, however, is an easy one to answer.
“I think they forced him.”