Oscar Valdez believes he’ll challenge the best and most dangerous of boxing’s 130-pound champions Saturday night.
Valdez thinks Miguel Berchelt’s size and power separate his Mexican rival from Gervonta Davis, Jamel Herring and Joseph Diaz Jr., who lost his IBF junior lightweight title at the scale Friday. The undefeated former WBO featherweight champion considers Davis, the WBA super featherweight champ, and Herring, the WBO junior lightweight champ, tough potential opponents as well.
The 30-year-old Valdez would be more confident than ever about defeating them if he beats Berchelt in their much-anticipated title fight Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“They’re all great fighters,” Valdez told BoxingScene.com. “I respect them all. They’re great champions. But being honest, I just feel that Berchelt has that punch that can put anybody on the canvas. I truly believe that Miguel Berchelt is the biggest, strongest fighter of the 130-pounders, and the best one. And I, personally, think the WBC belt has the most history on it. That’s one of the main reasons I wanna hold it. I want it so bad, and I’m working very hard to achieve it.”
ESPN will televise the 12-round battle between Berchelt (38-1, 34 KOs) and Valdez (28-0, 22 KOs) as the main event of a three-bout broadcast from MGM Grand Conference Center (10 p.m. EST; 7 p.m. PST). Handicappers have made the 29-year-old Berchelt slightly more than a 3-1 favorite versus Valdez, but his determined mandatory challenger is confident he’ll upset Berchelt in what figures to be an action-packed, back-and-forth fight.
“I’m gonna show I’m the best 130-pounder out there,” Valdez said. “That’s just my mindset. I don’t mean to sound cocky or anything. I just believe a lot in my work ethic. I just believe a lot in the work we put in in the gym. We dedicate a lot of hours to this, and I’ve dedicated my life to it. So, I truly believe that I’ve got what it takes to hold that WBC world title belt.”
A week after Berchelt battles Valdez, Cincinnati’s Herring (22-2, 10 KOs) will make an optional defense of his WBO belt against Northern Ireland’s Carl Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs) on February 27 at Copper Box Arena in London.
Diaz (31-1-1, 15 KOs), of Downey, California, battled Tajikistan’s Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (15-0-1, 12 KOs) to a 12-round majority draw Saturday night in Indio, California. Diaz still left Fantasy Springs Resort Casino without his IBF belt because he came in 3½ pounds overweight the previous day.
Baltimore’s Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) does not have a fight scheduled.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.