Oscar Valdez (33-3, 24 KOs) had a tougher-than-expected time defeating his tune-up opponent, Ricky Medina (16-4, 9 KOs), by a 10-round unanimous decision in a super featherweight contender on Saturday night at the Domo Binacional in Nogales, Mexico.
(Credit: Zanfer Boxing)
Valdez’s Powerless Performance
The former two-division world champion, Valdez, 34, came into the fight in a must-win situation after losing three out of his last five fights. Tonight, he applied constant pressure on the younger and bigger-looking 24-year-old Medina. Still, it wasn’t an easy fight for Valdez, as he was getting hit constantly by his younger opponent.
The scores were 100-89, 100-89, and 99-91.
Medina took a lot of punishment in rounds four and five from Valdez. In between rounds, he had the look of a dispirited fighter due to all the shots that Oscar was landing on him. However, he didn’t give up and continued to fight back, landing nice power shots, forcing Valdez to hold when he would get close.
Valdez landed big punches in the eighth and ninth rounds, but Medina took them well. The punches that Valdes had knocked many opponents out during his best years fighting at featherweight had no effect on Medina. Valdez isn’t the same at 130 as it was when he was campaigning at featherweight from 2012 to 2019.
In the 10th round, Medina fought hard, taking Valdez’s best shots and answering back as best as he could. Valdez was trying hard to get the knockout. When Medina held, he would shuck him off and continue swinging. You could see the frustration in Valdez’s face as he fought in the last minute. He wanted the knockout, but his power wasn’t moving the bigger Medina.
A New Reality for Valdez
At the end of the fight, Valdez looked like an unhappy camper as Medina congratulated him. The younger fighter looked pleased that he’d gone the distance with the ex-two-division world champion. Oscar appeared miserable and understandably so.
His opponent, Medina, is a fighter that he was supposed to knock out because he’s not a world-class contender. After losing two out of his last three fights in losses to Emanuel Navarrete, Medina was a guy that Valdez was expected to knock out. The fact that he didn’t a strong sign that his vision of becoming a world champion again at super featherweight is unlikely to happen.
Last Updated on 09/07/2025
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