Oscar Valdez knew he didn’t have to look far to assign blame for his most recent defeat.
Personal inventory was taken immediately after he fell short in a competitive but clear-cut decision in favor of countryman and WBO 130-pound titlist Emanuel Navarrete. Their all-Mexico title fight last August 12 proved entertaining to the rabid crowd of 10,246 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Valdez will now return to the ring with a firm grasp on what went wrong that evening and what he needs to do better in his next outing. The two-time Mexican Olympian and former two-division titlist has promised a more complete performance when he faces Australia’s Liam Wilson atop a March 29 ESPN+ telecast from the very same venue.
“I definitely learned a lot from my last fight,” Valdez told host Crystina Poncher during a recent press conference to formally announce the event. “I grew up watching fighters like Fernando Vargas, Oscar De La Hoya, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez. All these guys, one word that can describe them is warrior. I was inspired by them and always tried to kind of imitate them, and give the fans my all.
“Sometimes that doesn’t work in my favor. I’m still focused on that for my next fight. I’m going to do my best and give the fans what they want. But I’m also just focused on winning the fight.”
Valdez (31-2, 23KOs) was previously due to face Navarrete (38-1-1, 31KOs) last February 3 but was forced to withdraw due to a prior back injury that never fully healed in time to enter training camp. The opportunity instead went to Wilson, who dropped Navarrete but was floored himself and stopped in the ninth round of an instant classic.
Navarrete won the belt that evening to become a three-division titlist. Valdez made his way back into the ring later that May in a ten-round win over Adam Lopez. It paved the way for his eventual and highly anticipated showdown versus Navarrete in a bid to become a three-time titlist spanning two weights.
He was instead forced to accept his second loss in a span of three fights after previously going perfect through his first 30 career bouts. The 33-year-old from Nogales, Mexico is convinced there is plenty of time to add more hardware to his collection, beginning with what he has planned for later next month versus Wilson.
“We made mistakes [versus Navarrete],” acknowledged Valdez. “Sometimes you go into the ring with a game plan. Sometimes, that game plan doesn’t work. Also, the opponent is studying and working on his craft for his fight. You can only work so hard—I work hard for every fight.
“Sometimes you just have to work smarter. I truly believe we have a strong team. At the end of the day, who’s inside the ring is me. Who needs to be focused is me. It’s up to me to stick to the game plan.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox