RENO, Nev. -- When it was announced that Oscar Valdez would defend his WBO featherweight title on June 8 on ESPN the fighter being floated as his possible opponent was Erick Ituarte. That won't be the fight fans see though because the WBO did the right, and rare thing by refusing to sanction the fight because Ituarte wasn't ranked in the top 15 in the division. So in steps Jason Sanchez, who is ranked 11 in the WBO rankings but still probably shouldn't be getting a title shot.
Valdez (25-0, 20 KOs) is as fan friendly as any fighter in the sport. He's an offensive-minded fighter who loves to come forward and doesn't mind taking some punishment to inflict some of his own. Valdez has a crisp jab that he will follow with a powerful right hand that can do damage but also gets wild at times. The left hook of Valdez is another dangerous weapon and he loves to trade heavy leather. Defensively Valdez isn't great and isn't hard to hit but he's shown tremendous heart, especially in his fight against Scott Quigg where he suffered a broken jaw in the middle rounds but continued on to get the win.
The 28-year-old Valdez has plenty of solid veteran names on his resume like Jose Ramirez, Ruben Tamayo, Chris Avalos, Evgeny Gradovich, Miguel Marriaga, and the aforementioned Quigg. Of those opponents Quigg was probably the best but it would be a big stretch to call him anything similar to elite. After Valdez's win over Quigg he took nearly a year off and returned to action against the undefeated but very limited Carmine Tommasone. Fans of Valdez hoping to see him step up his level of opposition and take on a fighter like Leo Santa Cruz, Josh Warrington, or Gary Russell Jr. have to be disappointed. Instead of challenging another top featherweight, which to be fair is difficult considering so many promoters and networks won't work together, Valdez will take on the undefeated but mostly unknown Sanchez.
Sanchez (14-0, 7 KOs) is a young fighter with zero big fight experience. There is also virtually no tape of him online which is never a good sign because it usually means the fighter has never been in a notable fight. What Sanchez does have is nice jab he uses as a measuring stick and a big right hand he looks to score knockouts with. The left hook of Sanchez is solid but it's his big overhand right that does the most damage when it lands clean.
Some fans and pundits caught up in the moment of Andy Ruiz's upset victory over Anthony Joshua last week will now have you believing that that type of upset occurs regularly. Sure, upsets happen but it helps when you have the experience and talent of Ruiz. Unfortunately Sanchez doesn't have that experience or talent. Sanchez has never been in a notable fight and the combined record of his opponents is a dreadful 121-169-15. Making things even worse is the fact that Sanchez has only gone 10 rounds once and he's only been scheduled to go eight or more rounds just three times.
This fight should be all Valdez and if it isn't it will probably be one of the worst performances of his career. Valdez is the better fighter, with more experience, skills, and power and in a fight like this he should be able to easily dominate Sanchez. Sanchez will need to land some power shots early in an effort to make Valdez respect him. If Sanchez can't catch Valdez with a meaningful punch early in the fight he will probably get walked down and stopped in brutal fashion.
PREDICTION: If you're a fan of Oscar Valdez make sure you tune in to this fight from the start because it won't last very long. Jason Sanchez will be in way over his head and he won't be able to swim with the likes of Valdez. Valdez might show some ring rust early but he will knock that rust off quickly and stop Sanchez in the fifth round.
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| Valdez celebrating his knockdown of Carmine Tommasone |
The 28-year-old Valdez has plenty of solid veteran names on his resume like Jose Ramirez, Ruben Tamayo, Chris Avalos, Evgeny Gradovich, Miguel Marriaga, and the aforementioned Quigg. Of those opponents Quigg was probably the best but it would be a big stretch to call him anything similar to elite. After Valdez's win over Quigg he took nearly a year off and returned to action against the undefeated but very limited Carmine Tommasone. Fans of Valdez hoping to see him step up his level of opposition and take on a fighter like Leo Santa Cruz, Josh Warrington, or Gary Russell Jr. have to be disappointed. Instead of challenging another top featherweight, which to be fair is difficult considering so many promoters and networks won't work together, Valdez will take on the undefeated but mostly unknown Sanchez.
Sanchez (14-0, 7 KOs) is a young fighter with zero big fight experience. There is also virtually no tape of him online which is never a good sign because it usually means the fighter has never been in a notable fight. What Sanchez does have is nice jab he uses as a measuring stick and a big right hand he looks to score knockouts with. The left hook of Sanchez is solid but it's his big overhand right that does the most damage when it lands clean.
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| Sanchez at a recent weigh-in |
This fight should be all Valdez and if it isn't it will probably be one of the worst performances of his career. Valdez is the better fighter, with more experience, skills, and power and in a fight like this he should be able to easily dominate Sanchez. Sanchez will need to land some power shots early in an effort to make Valdez respect him. If Sanchez can't catch Valdez with a meaningful punch early in the fight he will probably get walked down and stopped in brutal fashion.
PREDICTION: If you're a fan of Oscar Valdez make sure you tune in to this fight from the start because it won't last very long. Jason Sanchez will be in way over his head and he won't be able to swim with the likes of Valdez. Valdez might show some ring rust early but he will knock that rust off quickly and stop Sanchez in the fifth round.
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