Oscar Valdez views Miguel Berchelt as the strongest and best 130-pound champion in boxing.

The undefeated former WBO featherweight champ clearly considers Berchelt beatable as well, even though odds-makers have established Berchelt as approximately a 3-1 favorite in advance of their 12-round title fight Saturday night. The odds are among the slights that have motivated Valdez throughout training camp for the main event of ESPN’s telecast from MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas (10 p.m. EST; 7 p.m. PST).

“It’s definitely a great motivation,” Valdez told BoxingScene.com. “I mean, I can’t lie, it’s a great motivation. I’ve seen a lot of boxing experts say that Miguel Berchelt is gonna do this to me, he’s gonna do that, that I’m a small 130-pounder and maybe I’ve got no chance. And I think there’s nothing better in life than proving people wrong. And in boxing, it’s been proven. You know, you’ve just gotta believe in yourself and your work you’re doing.”

The 30-year-old Valdez has been inspired by upsets in recent years while preparing to battle Berchelt for the Mexican champion’s WBC super featherweight title.

“You’ve got Teofimo Lopez, who just proved it,” Valdez explained. “Nobody believed in him when he beat Lomachenko. And I think he beat him pretty clearly. You’ve also got somebody like Andy Ruiz, who beat Anthony Joshua. And I think those are even more extreme examples of underdogs [than me]. It just proves that anything can happen inside the ring.

“You’ve just gotta believe in yourself, believe in your work ethic, and obviously be dedicated, and do everything you can in the gym. I believe the fights, you win them in the gym. That’s where you win fights. And like I said, every time I step in the gym, I give a hundred percent, so I know I’m a hundred-percent ready for this fight.”

ESPN will televise one bout before Berchelt (38-1, 34 KOs) and Valdez (28-0, 22 KOs) go at it in a much-anticipated showdown.

In the network’s co-feature, Gabriel Flores Jr. (19-0, 6 KOs), a junior lightweight prospect from Stockton, California, will oppose Puerto Rico’s Jayson Velez (29-7-1, 21 KOs) in a 10-rounder. Flores initially was scheduled to face former WBA super featherweight champ Andrew Cancio (21-5-2, 16 KOs), but Cancio withdrew from their fight due to a back injury shortly after it was announced. 

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