Lucas Jones
On Friday, Liam Wilson and Oscar Valdez will face each other in a fight that could serve as a secret world championship showdown of sorts. When Wilson and Valdez share the ring in Glendale, Arizona, the WBO interim junior lightweight championship will be up for grabs.
The interim title was added just days before the fight. That’s because WBO world champion Emanuel Navarrete is set to move up to lightweight to fight Denys Berinchyk for the vacant 135-pound title in May. If Navarrete defeated Berinchyk and decided to remain at lightweight, the winner of Valdez vs. Wilson would be elevated to junior lightweight world champion.
Both Valdez (31-2, 23 KO) and Wilson (13-2, 7 KO) lost title fights against Navarrete in 2023. Wilson knocked Navarrete down in the fourth round, but was unable to hold the champion from there, eventually suffering a ninth Loss by technical knockout per round. Valdez and Navarrete went to war in their clash, producing one of the most exciting fights of the year before Navarrete walked away with a unanimous decision victory.
Valdez has not fought since losing to Navarrete in August and has suffered the only two losses of his professional career in his three most recent fights, also missing a 2022 fight with then-WBC junior lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson in a unification fight in which Valdez dropped the WBO title he had won two fights earlier with a knockout over Miguel Berchelt. Valdez also held the WBO featherweight title from 2016 to 2019, with six successful title defenses before vacating the belt when he moved up in weight.
“I’ll be ready. I was preparing for a world championship fight,” Valdez said during this week’s press conference. “Then we received the news that it is now a provisional title. So I’m more than excited and prepared, and we’re going to show it.
“I was taking this fight as seriously as a world championship fight. I know Liam Wilson. with everything because I’m waiting for the same Liam Wilson.”
Wilson returned to work in 2023 following a February loss to Navarrete with wins over Carlos Maria Alanis and Jackson Jon England. Wilson has never won a world title, but that could change if he gets the win over Valdez and Navarrete completes a permanent move to lightweight.
“Every fight for me now is a world title fight. So I prepared very hard for this. This is my second attempt at a world title,” Wilson said. “And I’ve shown in the past that if I get a second race, I can be very dangerous. I’m very ready for this fight.
“It’s good that he was there in my fight against Navarrete. The whole world saw what happened. I should have already been world champion. This fight between me and Valdez should have already happened. I won the belt that night. It wasn’t granted to me. But that’s how it happened. But we’re here now and we’re going to settle the score.
The main support fight promises almost as much action as the main event, with Seniesa Estrada (25-0, 9 KO) putting her WBA and WBC minimumweight titles on the line against IBF and WBO champion Yokasta Valle (30-2, 9 KO), with the winner emerging as boxing’s latest undisputed champion.
Valdez vs. Wilson Fight Card, Odds
|
Óscar Valdez -375 |
Liam Wilson +275 |
WBO interim super featherweight title |
|
Seniesa Estrada (c) -220 |
Yokasta Valley (c) +175 |
Undisputed minimum weight title |
|
Raymond Muratalla-3000 |
Xolisani Ndongeni +1400 |
Light |
|
Richard Torrez Jr. |
Donald Haynesworth +1500 |
Heavy weight |
|
Emiliano Vargas -5000 |
Nelson Hampton +1500 |
Light |
Viewing information
Date: March 29 | Location: Diamond Desert Arena – Glendale, Arizona
Start time: 6:10 p.m. ET (main event around 11 p.m. ET)
How to watch: ESPN+
Prediction
Wilson was expected to be knocked out by Navarrete, but he proved his quality by giving the champion everything he could before being stopped late in the fight. As a result, Wilson will not be forgotten before the fight with Valdez, but he will still enter the ring as an underdog.
Valdez is in a strange place in his career, having been a top-level championship fighter but losing two of his three most recent fights. Losses to Navarrete and Stevenson are hardly an indication that Valdez has become an elite fighter, as both of these men are among the best fighters on the planet.
Valdez is the more proven fighter with much more high-level experience than Wilson. Additionally, he is a bit more dynamic and is expected to outwork and outperform Wilson. Valdez probably has some tough times in the fight, but gets a close but clear decision victory. Pick: Oscar Valdez via UD
