By Keith Idec

A deal nearly has been finalized for Oscar Valdez to defend his WBO featherweight title against Scott Quigg.

Assuming it is consummated, Valdez-Quigg will take place March 10 at StubHub Center in Carson, California. ESPN will televise what is expected to be an action-packed, 12-round, 126-pound title fight as part of promoter Top Rank’s exclusive ESPN series.

Eddie Hearn – whose company, Matchroom Boxing, promotes Quigg – confirmed in a Tweet posted Tuesday night that the Valdez-Quigg deal is near completion.

Hearn Tweeted: I see the news breaking..correct-we are close to finalizing a deal for @scottquigg to face@oscarvaldez56 for the World title..hopefully get it over the line, will be an unbelievable fight! #andthenew @SkySportsBoxing @CarlMoretti

Hearn referred to an ESPN.com story in which news of the Valdez-Quigg fight was first reported.

The 27-year-old Valdez (23-0, 19 KOs), of Nogales, Mexico, is coming off a hard-fought, unanimous-decision defeat of the Philippines’ Genesis Servania (30-1, 13 KOs) on September 22 in Tucson, Arizona. The unknown yet tough Servania dropped Valdez in the fourth round and withstood a fifth-round knockdown, but lost on all three scorecards (117-109, 116-110, 115-111).

Valdez, a 2012 Mexican Olympian, will make the fourth defense of the WBO featherweight title he won in July 2016 against Quigg.

The 29-year-old Quigg (34-1-2, 25 KOs), a former WBA super bantamweight champion, is 3-0 as a featherweight. The Bury, England, native moved up to 126 pounds following his lone loss – a 12-round split decision against Northern Ireland’s Carl Frampton in their 122-pound championship unification fight in February 2016.

Quigg is now trained by Freddie Roach.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.