University of St. Thomas senior Eddie Valenzuela-Rivera prepares to throw a punch at Khary Williams. Valenzuela-Rivera won his professional boxing debut Friday at the Grand Casino Hinckley (Adam Mueller/The Crest). 
Valenzuela-Rivera started boxing 12 years ago after his father wanted him to defend himself from neighborhood kids (Adam Mueller/The Crest). 
Valenzuela-Rivera handed out “Team Valens” T-shirts with his initials for the fans who made the trek to Hinckley (Adam Mueller/The Crest). 
Valenzuela debuted his “El Diablo” nickname Friday (Adam Mueller/The Crest). 
The referee stopped the match just 1:26 into the second round, declaring the win for Valenzuela-Rivera (Adam Mueller/The Crest).
University of St. Thomas senior Eddy Valenzuela-Rivera won his professional boxing debut Friday night at the Grand Casino in Hinckley.
Valenzuela-Rivera (1-0) defeated Khary Williams (0-6) from Detroit just 1:26 into the second round of the junior middleweights bout.
“I could have taken him in that first round … what’s the point of coming out here then I finish him in 15 seconds, you know what I’m saying?” Valenzuela-Rivera said.
The Apple Valley native still had his heightened energy long after he defeated Williams. He danced around the green room post-fight as he reenacted the final punches that ended the match, still in his white-fringed fight trunks.
“I remember he was connecting. I think it was like an uppercut into a straight right hand on the jaw, clean on the cheek. It just kind of stumbled him a little bit, and then it brought the hands up,” Valenzuela-Rivera said. “That’s when he touched the body and then he’s out of stamina, stamina’s out, man. And then it’s just kind of pick your shots and see what gets him out of there.”
The fans that came out to see the mechanical engineering student accomplish his “dream,” were instead introduced to the newly-christened “El Diablo.”
The nickname came from his father, Cesar Valenzuela, as an ode to what he would call his ‘troublemaker’ son when he was younger.
“I’m like, man what better iconic name than El Diablo?” Valenzuela-Rivera said. “You know how chill and nice I am outside the ring, I’m not a devil, man.”
He had the loudest cheers of the first four fights, with fans donning Team Valens t-shirts including his entire family. The venue’s seats looked to be around two-thirds full when Valenzuela-Rivera entered the ring. Event promoter Cory Rapacz said they had sold around 1,700 tickets for the fights.
“I’m going to be talking for the rest of the night, man. Everybody, dude … there’s going to be everybody out there, I’m so excited,” Valenzuela-Rivera said.
He reached professional status 12 years after taking up the sport, all with coach Roy Dunlap.
“We’ve been really kind of perfecting things for a long time, and it was fun to see how calm he was and how selective he was when it was time to get nasty,” Dunlap said.
Valenzuela-Rivera had already established himself on the Minnesota amateur circuit. He won the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves at 147-pound class in 2022 and 2024, and at 156 pounds In 2023.
Dunlap said that Friday’s fight represented the end of one journey as well as the start of a new one.
“This is the start of the freshman year right now. You know, this is step one. We had a nice opponent that was good for a pro debut and things are going to continue to go up,” Dunlap said.
His coach is just as familiar with “El Diablo” as the smiling, gallon-jug toting student who’s the co-president of UST’s boxing club, Purple Gloves.
“Nicest kid. Nice guy. He’s a … politician to be honest with you,” Dunlap said with a laugh.
Valenzuela-Rivera said he is already thinking about a next fight.
“Keep an eye on me, man. I’m going to be- It’s only the first of many,” he said.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.
