Oscar Valdez’s first stop on the road back won’t be easy, as Mike Coppinger reports that a clash with former title challenger Liam Wilson “is being finalized for March 29 in Glendale, Arizona.”
Both Valdez (31-2, 23 KO) and Wilson (13-2, 7 KO) came up short in title fights against Emanuel Navarrete last year. Wilson fought the former featherweight champion in February for the vacant 130-pound belt left by Shakur Stevenson, and although he floored Navarrete in the fourth, “Vaquero” rallied to stop him five rounds later. Valdez’s own fight with Navarrete was equally explosive, producing 12 rounds of Fight of the Year action before Navarrete raised his hand.
Wilson returned to Australia to win two fights in a row, while Valdez has not fought since.
This is actually a nice little pairing piece. Although Valdez is at the lowest point of his career after losing two of his last three, he still has the will and ability to hold his own against most super featherweights, and Wilson more than demonstrated his bona fides in what Initially it seemed like a mismatch against Navarrete. We will inform you as soon as Top Rank makes the announcement.
