ATLANTIC CITY – Bob Arum doesn’t know exactly when or where just yet, but the Hall-of-Fame promoter is certain we’ll see Miguel Berchelt and Oscar Valdez square off in the next fight for both boxers.
“That fight is definitely gonna happen,” Arum told BoxingScene.com.
When asked when and where those tough, Mexican 130-pounders will go at it, Arum replied, “We’ve gotta fit everything in the schedule and so forth. But both fighters have agreed. That’s a great fight. We’ve got a lot of good fights.”
Berchelt, 28, and Valdez, 29, want to fight each other, but they haven’t committed to contractual terms to box next. Assuming the money can be worked out, though, they’re expected to fight either in May or June, depending upon the availability of ESPN dates and venues.
Arum’s Top Rank Inc. promotes Valdez and is Berchelt’s co-promoter.
A bout between Berchelt, the WBC super featherweight champion, and Valdez is one of the best matchups that can be made within the 130-pound division.
Berchelt (37-1, 33 KOs) has won 16 straight fights since suffering his only loss, a first-round, technical-knockout defeat to unheralded Luis Florez in March 2014 in Palenque, Mexico. In his most recent action, Berchelt knocked out former WBA 130-pound champ Jason Sosa (23-4-4, 16 KOs) in the fourth round of their November 2 bout at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Valdez remains unbeaten, but the West Covina, California, resident was knocked down by late replacement Adam Lopez in the second round of his 130-pound debut November 30 in Las Vegas. Valdez (27-0, 21 KOs) withstood that trouble, knocked down Lopez in the seventh round and stopped Lopez in that same round at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan.
Lopez replaced Andres Gutierrez as Valdez’s opponent on about 30 hours’ notice because Gutierrez disgracefully came in more than 11 pounds overweight for their ESPN main event. Lopez (13-2, 6 KOs), of Glendale, California, moved up from 126 pounds to 130 to face Valdez, but he still gave the 2012 Olympian a tough fight.
Valdez vacated his WBO featherweight title late last summer to move up to the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.