Though he hates to admit it, the first defeat of his well-established career, stung Oscar Valdez.
Yet, even with the Mexican star being forced to relinquish his world title to Shakur Stevenson earlier this year, the 31-year-old is doing his best to bury that unfortunate memory. With five months of inactivity passing by, Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs) is hopeful that he’ll be given the opportunity to return to the win column sooner than later.
“Hopefully soon,” said Valdez to a group of reporters when asked when he’ll return to the ring.
As BoxingScene.com recently reported, Valdez was being positioned to return to the ring on November 12, but his next fight was pushed back to January after the former champ suffered a non-boxing injury.
Before coming up woefully short against Stevenson, Valdez’s name protruded towards the top of the 130-pound division. Nevertheless, despite scoring a concussive victory over Miguel Berchelt, followed by a razor-close unanimous decision win over Robson Conceicao, Valdez was unable to match Stevenson wit for wit.
But, despite Valdez currently sulking in defeat, not only is he yearning to return to the ring, but more than anything else, the 31-year-old has his eyes set on a third world title run.
“I want to look for that world title again.”
Currently, with golden trinkets laced up and down his championship mantle from 126 to 130 pounds, Valdez believes that due to his size, he’s somewhat at a career standstill. Presently, the WBC and WBO titles at 130 are vacant, with Hector Garcia of the Dominican Republic holding the WBA, and Joe Cordina of the United Kingdom holding the WBO. Considering his somewhat diminutive frame, Valdez doesn’t envision a scenario where he’ll have a legitimate chance to regain his championship status in another division. Instead, the Mexican native will have to work his way back up the 130-pound ladder.
“It’s not possible for me to go down to featherweight, 126. And 135, they’re too big for me. I’m too small for that division right now.”