Oscar Valdez has wanted to fight Leo Santa Cruz for quite some time.
Like most bouts between boxers represented by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. (Valdez) and Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (Santa Cruz), it hasn’t happened. Valdez is fully focused on challenging another 130-pound champion, Miguel Berchelt, but beating Berchelt could make a Valdez-Santa Cruz fight more meaningful because it’d be a title unification match if Santa Cruz remains a champion.
Santa Cruz became a four-division title-holder in his last bout by out-pointing Miguel Flores to win the then-vacant WBA “super” 130-pound crown November 23 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“We’ve been wanting to fight Leo Santa Cruz for a long time,” Valdez told Crystina Poncher for an interview conducted recently on Top Rank’s YouTube channel. “But due to the politics of boxing, you know, him being with the PBC and other promotional companies, I think that’s the main reason why these fights don’t happen. That’s why I’m so excited right now that I get the chance to fight somebody like [Miguel] Berchelt, because he’s a big name, he has a title belt.
“If the fight happens eventually with Leo Santa Cruz, I would love it because his style and my style would definitely be a fan-pleasing fight. You know, I think everybody would love that fight, especially in that [Los Angeles] area. So, I would gladly give my fans what they want, which like I said [is a fight] with Santa Cruz.”
Valdez (27-0, 21 KOs), a former WBO featherweight champ, and Berchelt (37-1, 33 KOs) are likely to fight for Berchelt’s WBC super featherweight title after the coronavirus crisis ends.
Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs), of Rosemead, California, hopes to battle Baltimore’s Gervonta Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) in his first fight following the COVID-19 pandemic. The 31-year-old Santa Cruz wants that fight to take place at 130 pounds, though, and Davis had difficulty making weight for his 135-pound debut December 28, a 12th-round stoppage of Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-3, 18 KOs) at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Santa Cruz has boxed only once at the 130-pound limit, as has Valdez. Santa Cruz’s 12-round, unanimous-decision victory over Houston’s Flores (24-3, 12 KOs) was decisive, but he believes Davis would have a significant advantage over him if they fought at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.