Crawford vs Postol results: Oscar Valdez smashes Matias Rueda, wins first world title

In his 20th professional fight, Mexico’s Oscar Valdez claimed his first world title tonight, winning the vacant WBO featherweight built with a second round stoppage win over Argentina’s Matias Rueda, dropping his opponent twice on body shots.

Valdez (20-0, 18 KO) battered and bloodied Rueda (26-1, 23 KO) in the opening round, showing a clear class disparity between the two fighters, which was one of the two ways this could have gone. Rueda, who had never really been tested before getting this fight, was simply out of his depth against the very talented and aggressive Valdez, and in the second round, Valdez dropped him on a body shot, and finished him with another moments later. Referee Russell Mora waved the count for the TKO.

The 25-year-old Valdez still has a level or two to face in this division, levels he’s yet to fight at in his pro career, and those could tell us a different story. But for now, he does have claim to one quarter of the recognized featherweight championship of the world, and all he’s done is fight his best, and his best has been a lot of fun to watch so far.