By Steve Kim

On Saturday night, Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez shined on the Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas - where he captured his first world title by stopping Argentine boxer Matias Rueda in two rounds in what was a spectacular performance.

He battered Rueda in the first round and then dropped him twice in the second round, before the referee waved off the contest. The win gave him the vacant WBO featheweight world title, which Vasyl Lomachenko recently vacated after moving up to 130-pounds.

The outing by Valdez didn't surprise his manager, Frank Espinoza, all that much.

"No, not really. He's been putting in the work, progressing after each and every fight. I really see the improvement and I know this was the right time for him to step into a world title. I just knew it,"said Espinoza to BoxingScene.com.

"This doesn't surprise me, I've always said when they asked me about this kid, I say,'he's special'. Always has been and this is what special kids do."

The 25-year old Valdez improved to 20-0 (18 KO's) could be making a homecoming in his first title defense. Promoter Bob Arum is putting together a plan to bring Valdez back on a date in November, in the champion's childhood home of Tucson, Arizona.

"[On Saturday] night after the win, Arum said he's bringing him back in November in Tuscon for his first title defense,"said Espinoza.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.