The first time Oscar Valdez returned to his second home as an ascending pro boxer nearly four years ago, a rowdy crowd of 4,103 fans electrified Tucson Arena, cameras beamed the fight out to 150 countries and … Valdez fell to the canvas for only the second time in his career.
“Definitely a learning experience,” Valdez said. “That mistake was only a mistake of two seconds.”
Valdez overcame the fall to beat Genesis Servania in a 12-round unanimous decision in September 2017 and retain his WBO featherweight title.
Valdez, now fighting at super featherweight (130 pounds), has won six more fights since then to improve to 29-0 (23 KOs) heading into his Tucson return against Robson Conceicao on Sept. 10 at Casino Del Sol.
Valdez’s last fight was the most memorable yet: The product of Nogales and Tucson delivered an upset knockout of Miguel Berchelt on Feb. 20 in Las Vegas that earned him the WBC super featherweight belt and put him in the conversation for the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters.
The way Valdez described it Tuesday, on a dual-language Zoom media call to promote the Sept. 10 fight, he might not have had that recent success without the quick lesson of that 2017 night in Tucson Arena.
“I was thinking of a body shot that he hit me with and I was going ‘Wow, did that shot hurt me or not?’" Valdez said. “While I was thinking, I was crossing my legs and then he caught me with a right hand and sent me to the canvas.”
“That made me think that I can’t lose focus and step out of the game plan for even two seconds because those two seconds can be the difference between winning and losing.”
That lesson wasn’t the only reason Valdez says he’s a different fighter today. For one thing, he moved up four pounds to 130 in November 2019, first stopping Adam Lopez in the seventh round of a WBC super featherweight eliminator. He then beat Jayson Velez in July 2020 before getting Berchelt in the MGM Grand’s “bubble” on Feb. 20, having found strength and comfort at the higher weight class.
“When I was 126, it was very hard for me to make weight, and by the fourth or fifth round I wasn’t the same fighter,” Valdez said. “I just didn’t feel I was myself. Now I feel I’m a completely different fighter. I’m stronger. I’m more energetic and I have the stamina to fight from the first to the 12th round.”
Valdez also switched trainers three years ago, going with Eddy Reynoso after beating Scott Quigg in March 2018. Now training in San Diego, Valdez said he’s constantly adjusting his training strategy and emphasis under Reynoso.
“Every day, we work on something different — we work on our jab, work on that perfect uppercut, work on that perfect right hand," Valdez said. "We always try to perfect every punch, because in boxing, you never stop learning. There's always something to learn, and Eddy Reynoso is the perfect teacher for that.”
Against Conceicao, Valdez has a specific set of tasks ahead: He must deal with the fact that his Brazilian opponent stands five inches taller than him at 5-foot-10½ and has a 70-inch reach that is four inches longer than Valdez's.
“We can’t fight the way we fought Berchelt because Conceicao has a way more different style,” Valdez said, also acknowledging the gap in measurables. “He’s a little bit more technical.”
Conceicao actually beat Valdez by a single point in the gold-medal match of the 2009 Pan American Games before going on to win a gold medal in the 2016 Olympics. He's 16-0 with 8 KOs as a pro.
“There's something very curious — when we were in amateurs, we kind of didn't like each other and we always kind of went back and forth looking at each other, giving each other faces, saying who was more macho, who was tougher,” Valdez said. “He beat me and I remember crying and saying, 'One day I'm gonna fight him again, maybe in the amateurs or maybe he’d be a sparring partner or something.' Never did cross my mind that it was he was gonna be a possible rival for me as a professional.
“Now, this is my chance. This is my chance. I'm very focused.”
Valdez will also get that chance in front of a home crowd that has seen him turn things around before.
