Hometown report: Turlock’s Marco Delgado scores knockout in pro debut

Turlock boxer Marco Delgado made his professional debut in Sacramento last Friday, scoring a fourth-round knockout over hometown favorite Matt “The King” Kim.

The fight at the Sacramento DoubleTree was part of Rage War IX.

“I didn’t think I’d lose, but I didn’t go in thinking I’d win, either,” said Delgado, who won the California Golden Gloves in 2015 and reached the semifinals of the national tournament. “It was kind of in between. I just kept a level head.”

Just seconds into the fourth round, Delgado hit Kim with a jab to the body and followed with a straight right to the chin that floored Kim.

“We practiced that combination the whole training camp,” Delgado said. “And that’s the one we got him with.”

Kim got off the canvas to beat the count and told the referee he could continue. But a few more punches sent Kim sliding down the ropes and the bout was stopped.

The fight originally was to be at the 175-pound limit, but when Kim twice failed to make weight, the limit was set at 185. Still, Kim weighed in at 186 pounds the night before the fight and had to forfeit a portion of his purse to Delgado.

“I heard his trainer say he hadn’t eaten or drank anything the day of the weigh-in,” said Chico Rodriguez, Delgado’s trainer. “When he entered the ring on the night of the fight, he must’ve weighed 205 or 210. He was way bigger than Marco.”

After the weigh-in, fighters often will binge on food before the fight to regain weight.

Delgado will take off the rest of the week before resuming his training. He hopes to fight again in January.

“We’d like to get him something a little closer to home this time,” Rodriguez said. “Hopefully, he can build up a following.”

Vander Weide is Player of the Week – Oregon sophomore Lindsey Vander Weide, a former Pitman High School volleyball standout, was named Pacific-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced last week.

Vander Weide paced the Oregon offense in wins over No. 8 Washington and No. 23 Washington State.

Against the Cougars, the 6-foot-3 outside hitter led the Ducks with 20 kills while hitting .311 for her third 20-kill match of the season. Vander Weide leads the Ducks with 3.27 kills per set while hitting .278. She also has averaged 2.91 digs per set.

Vander Weide also received the honor last month for her efforts in road wins over then-No. 20 Utah and Colorado.

This is her fourth career Pac-12 weekly honor after earning Freshman Player of the Week twice last season.

This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Hometown report: Turlock’s Marco Delgado scores knockout in pro debut."