By Dan Ambrose: WBC super featherweight champion Oscar Valdez wants a fight with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis soon if he can come back down to the 130-lb division. That’s a fight that Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs) believes the boxing public would be excited about seeing due to their fighting styles and, of course, their popularity.
The Top Rank promoted Valdez, 30, is coming off the biggest victory of his nine-year professional career with his 10th round stoppage of WBC 130-lb champion Miguel Berchelt on February 20th. Valdez completely dominated Berchelt, battering him the entire fight and showing the skill level difference between him and the former #1 130-pounder.
With the victory, Valdez has already called out WBO super featherweight champion Jamel ‘Semper Fi’ Herring for a unification fight next. That’s a fight that Top Rank will likely attempt to put together right away because the public is excited after seeing Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) retire Carl Frampton with a sixth-round knockout on April 3rd.
VALDEZ TARGETING GERVONTA DAVIS
“One fighter I would like to fight is Gervonta Davis,” said Oscar Valdez to Fighthub. “That’s a fight that the fans would enjoy. He has a great style. He’s an aggressive fighter as well.
“I think it would be Gervonta Davis,” said Valdez talking about who he’d like to face. “The reason I’m mentioned him is that his last fight was at 130. But if he goes up to 140, props to him. Right now, I don’t have one fighter [he wants to fight], said Valdez.
Unfortunately, a fight between Valdez and Tank Davis (24-0, 23 KOs) doesn’t appear possible right now. Tank talks about wanting to move up to 140 to battle WBA ‘regular’ light welterweight champion Mario Barrios for his title in his next fight.
After that fight, it might be difficult for Tank to come all the way back down to 130 for a fight against Valdez, particularly if he bulks up for the Barrios match. Valdez vs. Tank Davis will be a massive fight if it happens as soon as possible in terms of fan interest.
Tank has got the momentum going for him from his recent stoppage victories over Leo Santa Cruz and Yuriorkis Gamboa. For Tank to keep up the excitement the boxing public has about his career, he needs to focus on high-profile fighters like Valdez. There’s nothing wrong with the unbeaten 25-year-old Mario Barrios (26-0, 17 KOs) as a fighter, but he’s not well known yet. SHAKUR, LOMACHENKO & SANTA CRUZ OTHER OPTIONS “It could be Gervonta or Shakur Stevenson,” Oscar Valdez said about who he’d like to fight nextt. “Either one. I forgot about Lomachenko.
“Even though he came out of a loss to Teofimo, he’s still a great fighter. I’m not scared to fight no fighter. Even Leo Santa Cruz. “He just came off a loss to Gervonta Davis, but he’s still a dangerous fighter. Just because he came off a loss, it doesn’t mean his career is over.
“Leo Santa Cruz, because of his style and my style, would be a great fight for the fans to watch. I do want to fight again this year. Right away, the sooner the better,” Valdez said.
As the WBO mandatory, Shakur Stevenson (15-0, 8 KOs) wants a title shot against Herring right away, but he’s also interested in facing Valdez. But what Stevenson wants is to face Herring, beat him, and then take the WBO title and face Valdez in a unification fight. It’s unclear whether Top Rank will make the Herring vs. Stevenson fight first, though, as there would be more interest right now if they matched Jamel against Valdez. Stevenson might have to wait in line for his title shot against the Valdez vs. Herring unification winner, but it’s not a big deal. Stevenson is young at 23, and he can afford to wait. It’s highly doubtful that Valdez will take on the recently beaten former three-division world champion Vasily Lomachenko.
That’s a bad match-up for Valdez, and it’s doubtful that Top Rank would be in favor of letting that fight happen. With Oscar being younger than Loma and with a lot of his career potential still in front of him, Top Rank won’t want to let Lomachenko potentially ruin him.