Isaac Lucero’s opponent for his slot on the October 25 Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view is Roberto Valenzuela Jnr.
Lucero will take on Valenzuela Jnr to open the broadcast, which is headlined by Sebastian Fundora defending his junior middleweight title against Keith Thurman.
Fundora-Thurman will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show will stream on Amazon’s Prime Video and PPV.com and will also be available for purchase via traditional cable and satellite providers.
Lucero, 17-0 (13 KOs), is a 27-year-old junior middleweight prospect originally from Mexico and now living in Las Vegas. He last fought in May, when he stopped the 23-0 Omar Valenzuela (no relation to Roberto) in the second round on the undercard of Armando Resendiz’s upset win over Caleb Plant.
“Roberto Valenzuela Jnr is a tough veteran who’s faced some of the division’s best, and he’s coming into the ring on a winning streak. But this is my time, and I’m gonna show why on October 25,” Lucero was quoted as saying in a press release. “I’m very grateful to my team for this opportunity. My trainer, Bob Santos, will have me ready to showcase my skills and put on a great show when the bell rings.”
Roberto Valenzuela is a 26-year-old from Mexico with a record of 31-5 (29 KOs). He was barely two years into his pro career when he dropped an eight-round decision to the 15-2 Derek Silveira in April 2019. Since then, Valenzuela’s other four defeats have all come against recognizable opponents.
Valenzuela was stopped after five rounds with welterweight Alexis Rocha in December 2019; Rocha is now a fringe welterweight contender. Valenzuela lost a wide decision to Souleymane Cissokho at junior middleweight in March 2022; Cissokho is now nearing a welterweight title shot.
Valenzuela was shut out over eight rounds by Bakhram Murtazaliev in December 2022 and stopped in the fifth round against Xander Zayas in September 2023. Both Murtazaliev and Zayas now hold world titles at 154lbs.
Valenzuela has won five consecutive bouts since the Zayas defeat. Most recently, he knocked out the 24-6 Juan Jose Velasco in the sixth round this past February.
“My opponent is a very strong and skilled boxer, but I’m 100% ready to leave Las Vegas victorious,” Valenzuela said. “With both of our styles, I’m sure that we’re going to give the fans a fight that all of Mexico and the rest of the world will be talking about for many years.”
The rest of the pay-per-view undercard will feature junior lightweight titleholder O’Shaquie Foster defending his WBC belt against featherweight titleholder Stephen Fulton, and Shane Mosley Jnr and Jesus Ramos Jnr vying for the WBC’s interim belt at 160lbs.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
