Continuing his comeback on Friday in Australia, super middleweight contender Blake Caparello finished off the year facing Bolivian Ricky Torrez at the Melbourne Pavilion, in Flemington, Victoria.
The Australian southpaw Caparello came out aggressively at the outset, throwing in combination. A barrage of punches felled Torrez hard, though he arose. Caparello followed through to land a right uppercut and straight left to put Torrez down again for good. The end came at the 2:45 mark of round one. Caparello improved to 24-2-1 (8 KOs), while Torrez fell to 26-8-1 (17 KOs) ending a six-fight winning streak.
“You’ve just seen the best super middleweight in the country,” said Caparello to the fans in attendance. “I will keep working hard to regain my former status and secure another shot at a world championship.”
“Blake’s impressive win over Ricky Torrez demonstrates his continued dedication to his pursuit of a world title,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “He has only lost to elite fighters, and in both defeats, managed to knock down each adversary, proving his competitive spirit. I will seek out the best opportunities for Blake as he climbs back up the rankings.”
For Caparello, the Torrez knockout was his second straight victory in his home country since dropping a competitive 10-round decision to Andre Dirrell in April, in which he knocked the American down in the second frame. On August 13, Caparello earned a fifth-round stoppage over Rogerio Damasco, also at the Melbourne Pavilion.
After just nine amateur bouts, Caparello turned pro in 2009, and quickly amassed a slew of title belts while defeating the best challengers Australia had to offer. By 2013, Caparello had won the Australia-Victoria, Australian, interim OPBF, PABA, and IBO light heavyweight titles. Following a dominant win over former world title challenger Allan Green, Caparello signed with promoter DiBella Entertainment and made a successful US debut in January 2014 on ESPN Friday Night Fights against the experienced Elvir Muriqi.
Six months later, Caparello appeared on HBO, challenging WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, trading knockdowns in a shootout in Atlantic City. Though he suffered his first defeat, Caparello rebounded to win the WBO Asia Pacific light heavyweight title that December. In 2015, Caparello made the decision to move down to the super middleweight division where he has thus far won four of five fights, while adding the PABA and WBO Oriental 168lb. titles to his collection.
