Oscar Valdez’s validation last year came in the form of a career-defining upset of Miguel Berchelt.
Berchelt was a 4-1 favorite to defeat Valdez, who disproved plenty of naysayers when he challenged Berchelt in February 2020 for the WBC super featherweight title. Mexico’s Valdez, a former WBO featherweight champion, sent Berchelt to the canvas in the fourth and ninth rounds prior to brutally knocking him out when he perfectly executed a left hook in the 10th round at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Valdez is a 3-1 underdog again, now that his 12-round, 130-pound title unification fight against Shakur Stevenson has been announced for April 30 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Unlike Berchelt, Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) is a southpaw who is considered a terrific technician and a masterful defensive fighter. Those traits didn’t prevent Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) from demanding to finally fight Stevenson once the 2016 Olympic silver medalist dominated Jamel Herring on his way to a 10th-round knockout October 23 that earned him the WBO junior lightweight title.
The 31-year-old Valdez grew tired of Stevenson stating that the two-division champion had avoided him for more than two years. The 2012 Olympian also noted in a press release issued recently to officially announce a main event ESPN will televise that he won’t go back and forth with Stevenson on social media just to promote their fight.
“I want to make it clear that I am the best 130-pound fighter in the world,” Valdez said. “We know Shakur Stevenson is very good at fighting, but he’s even better at social media. I’ll let my first speak for themselves.”
Valdez will have to be better versus Stevenson than he was during his last fight if he intends to pull off another upset.
Brazil’s Robson Conceicao gave Valdez difficulty during their 12-rounder September 10 in Tucson, Arizona. Valdez won a unanimous decision, but he retained his WBC belt in the wake of a PED ordeal that forced the Nogales native to endure a lot of negative attention, despite his contention that he didn’t knowingly ingest Phentermine, the banned substance for which he tested positive nearly a month before he encountered Conceicao (17-1, 8 KOs).
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, which operates the World Boxing Council’s “Clean Boxing Program,” prohibits the use of Phentermine both in and out of competition.
VADA’s standards aren’t recognized, however, by the Association of Boxing Commissions, a United States-based organization that adheres to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances. Phentermine is on WADA’s list of banned substances.
That loophole enabled Valdez to defend his title against Conceicao because the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Athletic Commission, which regulated the card headlined by their title fight, licensed him.
Six weeks later, Stevenson became a two-division champion himself at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The Newark, New Jersey, native completely controlled Cincinnati’s Herring (23-3, 11 KOs) on his way to winning their fight for Herring’s WBO junior lightweight title by technical knockout.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.