Oscar Valdez couldn’t be more thrilled with his time currently spent under one of the sport’s very best trainers.
Admittedly, he wasn’t sure what to think at the start of his relationship with Eddy Reynoso nearly three years ago.
"I'm happy to be with Eddy and Canelo [Saul Alvarez],” Valdez noted during a recent conference call with local media in Tucson to discuss his upcoming homecoming title fight. “In the beginning, I was nervous. There was change.
“I didn't know if I was going to become a boring fighter. Fans like to see blood."
Five wins and a second divisional title later, the marriage remains as strong as ever.
Valdez will enter his sixth fight with Reynoso—the 2019 Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Trainer of the Year—ahead of his next title defense versus Brazil’s three-time Olympian and 2016 Olympic Gold medalist Robson Conceicao (16-0, 8KOs). The bout takes place September 10, live on ESPN from AVA Amphitheater at Casino del Sol in Valdez’s childhood hometown of Tucson, Arizona.
The event will mark the first defense of Valdez’s WBC junior lightweight title, along with his first fight back in Tucson since September 2017. Valdez—a two-time Olympian for Mexico—played to a rabid crowd at Tucson Convention Center, surviving a fourth-round knockdown to floor Genesis Servania in round five en route to a twelve-round, unanimous decision victory in the second defense of his WBO featherweight title. Valdez was with renowned trainer Manny Robles at the time, with their union lasting one more fight—a twelve-round win over Scott Quigg in April 2018—before making the move to Reynoso’s camp.
"I got nothing but respect for Manny Robles, we are still good friends,” insists Valdez. “I am forever grateful to him. With Reynoso, it is different. A lot of repetitions and drills...over and over."
Valdez’s first two fights with Reynoso were also his final two as a featherweight before vacating his title in the summer of 2019. Three wins have followed at junior lightweight, all inside the distance. None were bigger than his one-sided tenth-round knockout of countryman Miguel Berchelt (38-2, 34KOs) this past February 20 at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, emphatically claiming the WBC junior lightweight belt in the process.
"I'm much stronger at 130 pounds,” states Valdez. “It took a lot from me making the lower weight. Now, I'm more energetic. We have a lot of routines in camp. We're perfecting the uppercut. Eddy Reynoso is a master at this."
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
