By Francisco Salazar

It still seems like a dream to Oscar Valdez.

The journey of winning a world title belt ended on July 23, when he stopped Matias Rueda in round two at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The adulation on that hot summer night would have given goosebumps to any person, especially when he jumped into the arm of trainer Manny Robles.

It was a surreal moment for the two-time Olympian who can now call himself a world titleholder.

But there is more to be accomplished for Valdez. Now it is all about defending that title since more fighters are going to be zeroing in on the young Mexican fighter.

Valdez will make the first defense of his WBO world title tonight when he takes on Hiroshige Osawa of Japan in a 12 round bout at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. The bout will be precede the welterweight showdown between Manny Pacquiao and WBO titleholder Jessie Vargas.

Both fights will air live on Top Rank Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT.

Osawa (30-3-4, 19 KOs), who is unbeaten in his last 16 bouts, is ranked number one by the WBO, but has not fought any legit contenders throughout his career.

Tonight's fight figures to be a blowout win for Valdez, but the 25-year-old is not looking past Osawa.

"I've heard that the most difficult thing is to defend a world title belt," said Valdez during fight week. "But I'm well-prepared. I'm very excited. It's obviously something new to me."

Valdez's stock in the very competitive featherweight division has risen dramatically over the last year or so. The 25-year-old has scored impressive wins over Evgeny Gradovich and Chris Avalos.

It is a far cry from June of last year when he struggled in a 10 round victory over Ruben Tamayo. Some boxing insiders wondered whether Valdez was hype than polish, but Valdez has proven those doubters wrong.

Future fights against other titleholders and contenders in the 126-pound division are more a reality than an illusion.

"I still don't consider myself a champion," said Valdez, who is promoted by Top Rank and is managed by Frank Espinoza.

Valdez wants to fight the more-difficult opposition. Having not hit his ceiling yet, Valdez believes facing the top fighters at 126 pounds will benefit him.

Not to mention he will have more opportunities to cash in on winning more world title belts.

"I feel like I haven't accomplished anything. I still have a lot of hunger to win titles."

"Come Saturday, I'll be intelligent in the ring. I'm not just going to throw punches. I'm going to enter the ring with everything to defend something that cost me a lot to win."

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing