Oscar Valdez was in the aftermath of proving many doubters wrong on Saturday night, as his KO win over Miguel Berchelt was as thorough and as impressive as the new WBC junior lightweight world title could put together.
After ten rounds, most of which were spent dictating the fight in the direction he wanted to take, Valdez further stunned the boxing world by landing a devastating blow to Berchelt’s face, knocking Berchelt cold and fighting with just one. second ends left in the round.
Brett Okamoto and Michael Rothstein break down the biggest moments of the night in Las Vegas and project what comes next for both fighters, as well as the Top Rank Boxing calendar in the future. Ben Baby is also responding to the return of Adrien Broner for the first time in almost two years.
What’s next for Oscar Valdez after the biggest win of his career?
Rothstein: Valdez fought the perfect battle. An absolutely perfect fight. From the first round, all Valdez did was one step ahead of Miguel Berchelt, and it ended with a brutal knockout in the 10th round, a left hook right in the middle of Berchelt’s face.
How the fight ended summed up how Valdez fought throughout the night. He moves away from a Berchelt punch, gets up and calls to send Berchelt to the canvas.
It was a constant combination of speed and Valdez’s effective hooks throughout the night. The strategy stunned Berchelt in the first two rounds, Valdez delivering a knockout in the fourth round, a second result in the ninth and finally the knockout in the 10th.
By that time, the only thing that could stop Valdez from winning the title was a miracle from Berchelt (37-2-0, 33 KO), who had not much left before the moment.
This victory strengthens the career CV of Valdez (29-0, 23 KO), who now becomes a title holder in his second division after six defenses of the WBO featherweight world title. Now that he’s a title holder again, the new WBC junior lightweight world title list has options.
His next potential opponent might have been sidelined. The money battle for Valdez could very well be against Shakur Stevenson, the unbeaten rising star who also happens to be part of Top Rank’s stable of fighters. He is also the no. 2-rated fighter in the division by the WBC, so it might also make sense from that point of view.
Congratulations champion @ oscarvaldez56 I respect what you did tonight, it surprised me .. It’s just 1 Fight to make now!
– Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) 21 February 2021
Stevenson-Valdez is an interesting contrast of styles and a struggle that could put fans in the seats by the middle of the year. Valdez was also open to it after the fight, and even suggested it in his post-fight interview.
This is the battle to make and seems to make the most sense in the immediate future. The other option, if Valdez decides he wants to try to unite the division, is to watch the Jamel Herring-Carl Frampton fight later this spring and wait for the winner.
But even with the fight out there, Stevenson seems like the smarter way to go.
How did Berchelt lose, and what’s next for him?
Okamoto: Berchelt did not lose his title as much as Valdez took it from him. Let us make that clear immediately. Valdez looked masterful from the start and Berchelt was stunned and faded through the fourth round when Valdez put him on skates with a left and got his first shot. Valdez might have finished him just where the bell did not come. Berchelt showed a lot of heart in the ensuing rounds and tried to stop the tide with nothing more than mere pressure and force.
However, it was clear that he, at least not on Saturday, had an answer for Valdez’s speed and attitude changes. Berchelt seemed lost early on. He never looked comfortable in his counter-attack, and more or less gave it up after the fourth round when he committed himself to a high-pressure approach. At 29, he is still one of the leading junior lightweights in the world, but he will unfortunately have to prove that it will happen next year or so after a result like this. He will have to prove that the devastating nature of this loss does not change his ability to strike a blow, or his willingness to strike a blow.
If and when he faced a fast-paced, technical boxer like Valdez – or Vasiliy Lomachenko, who he might call out on Saturday, he would have to go differently – he will have to prove he learned from this disaster. He will probably need a comeback fight of some kind, an opponent who is not in the top five of the division. If all goes well, a title fight will not be far off.
Perhaps he will also reflect on an increase in weight, which would also have been a topic after the fight if he had won, but there is no reason to think that 130 pounds still could not be a great home for Berchelt not. But there will be inevitable questions he will have to answer when he returns.
Box needs fans again
Okamoto: I was on my way to tonight’s fight in Las Vegas. I thought it would be an evening that would be missed by fans – I just thought it would be due to a back-and-forth war, and not a one-sided masterclass of Valdez. But regardless, the reality is the same. Boxing missed his fans a lot tonight.
There was a moment before the outings, when the ballroom at the MGM got dark and the house music went off. It was one of those moments that let everyone in the building know, the fighters of the main event are about to walk away. I’ve experienced that feeling hundreds of times in a packed arena, and I can not even really put into words how strange it felt on Saturday. It was so quiet that you could hear individual conversations taking place in the room.
When the fighters did walk and they were announced – honestly, I think Top Rank does a good job of producing energy as you can – but it can hardly be related to a real crowd. And of course, the fight itself, when Valdez dropped Berchelt into fourth position, and Berchelt tried to get to a victory in the ensuing rounds when he was still injured, a crowd would have added so much to it. Hopefully we are close to that.
Top Rank believes Saturday was its last night in the bubble. The promotion plans to move to Florida and / or Oklahoma for the next events in April, and then to be in Vegas again in May – at a time when fans will hopefully be attending again.
Gabriel Flores Jr. finds a big CO because rising prospects get rounds on Berchelt-Valdez under-map
Rothstein: Gabriel Flores Jr. looks less sharp. Jayson Velez landed a few hits and put together some combinations. But then, in the sixth round, 20-year-old Flores showed why he is seen as a rising prospect in the junior lightweight division.
A right on Velez’s head knocked him out once. A spate of battles ended the fight moments later and a major victory for the native of Stockton, California. It was a big showcase in the co-main event and caught fans who agreed a bit early for the title fight.
That Flores was able to put together a knockout shot – his first since a third round KO of Eduardo Pereira Dos Reis on May 4, 2019 – was an added bonus, as it was only his second knockout shot in his last 14 fights. This showed Flores’ combination speed and power. After the fight, Flores said he “sent a statement that I’m ready for a world title.”
It soon feels to him, given the strength of the division. Apart from Berchelt and Valdez, there are also Shakur Stevenson, Leo Santa Cruz, Joseph Diaz Jr., Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov, Jamel Herring and more in the section.
But it was an impressive performance that would give him a real chance at a high opponent. As Flores wen that fight, then there might be a title shoot in its near future, especially since the IBF belt is currently vacant.
The other two prospects on the map – junior welterweight Elvis Rodriguez (11-0-1, 10 KO) and welterweight Xander Zayas (7-0, 5 KO) – got laps, which was key to both’s developments with Rodriguez on 12 pro fights and Zayas on seven pro fights and very short nights so far in their career.
Especially for Rodriguez, this is the first time he has covered the distance in a fight, and this fight should give him a good amount of bond to work with, as he is working on improving some important elements in the ring. Rodriguez admitted just as much after the fight against a fair game, Luis Alberto Veron (18-3-2, 9 KO), and said he should return to the gym and work on getting his hands moving more.
This kind of learning experience can be beneficial along the way for a year or two as the game gets higher.
What did the fight against Jovanie Santiago on Saturday tell us about the current condition of Adrien Broner?
Baby: Saturday night, Adrien Broner was in a nutshell. In a unanimous, yet controversial decision, he showed flashes against Jovanie Santiago. Broner received 100 fewer blows than Santiago and looked sluggish again. And perhaps his most entertaining moments of the evening were in the post-fight interview, when Broner’s noisy persona was clearly not rusty despite the lack of action.
In other words, it was a Peak Broner. And at this point, it’s not enough to challenge any elite of 140 pounds, where he wants to fight, and 147 pounds, where he actually fights.
Broner’s best moments came in the middle rounds, including one in the eighth round when a Broner hook tore Santiago apart and he hit inches off the canvas.
But Santiago rallied in the second round and made the fight at least. Although there must have been a big gap between the two men, it was not clear on Saturday. And yes, Broner had a long dismissal, but when he missed weight by 6 kilograms and the match was changed to welterweight by the end of the fighting week, it’s hard to believe he’s in a fighting form.
With his win (with some very dubious scorecards, including an inexplicable 117-110 from Peter Hary), Broner probably secured at least another substantial payday. At this point in his career, this is probably the best he can ask for.