March 19, 2024

Oscar Valdez to be trained by Eddy Reynoso

By Fightnews.com

Two-time Mexican Olympian and current undefeated World Boxing Association (WBO) Oscar Valdez of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, is recuperating from a jaw injury and will be returning soon to training under a new trainer Eddy Reynoso, who also trains Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

Photo: Espinoza Boxing Club

Valdez (24-0, 19 KOs), 27, last fought on March 10 of this year and defeated Scott Quigg by unanimous decision at the StubHub Center in Carson, California to retain his 126lb belt.However, Quigg was overweight at the weigh-in and refused to lose any weight or do a same day limit weight-in. On the day of the fight, Quigg was a much heavier man than Valdez.
Yet, in a fight-of-the-year type of battle, he was able to defeat Quigg — in the process, however, receiving a fracture in his jaw that required a long rest to heal.

As soon as he is declared fit by his doctors, Valdez will start training for a return to the ring in early 2019 with Eddy Reynoso as his new trainer.

“I want to thank Manny Robles and his whole team for everything they have done for me over the last few years, but like everything in life, changes are sometimes needed to move forward. I’m very grateful to them for their friendship and all they have taught me”, said Valdez.

“We are very grateful for everything that Manny Robles and his team did for Oscar, but as we move forward to bigger challenges in Oscar’s career, we felt as a team that Eddy Reynoso is better suited for what is ahead,” said Frank Espinoza, president and founder of Espinoza Boxing Club.

Valdez, who represented Mexico in the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing and in 2012 in London, won a gold medal in the 2009 World Championship in Italy as a featherweight, later winning a gold medal in 2011 at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He is the only Mexican boxer to have ever won gold in a World Championship Tournament.

Valdez made his professional debut on November 3 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico and stopped Angel Prado in the second round, quickly becoming on the most popular boxers in the sport and a bonafide blue chip prospect who became a true contender on April 9, 2016 when he stopped former world champion Evgeny Gradovich in the fourth round of a Las Vegas fight.

Valdez won the WBO featherweight championship on July 23, 2016 in Las Vegas with an explosive second-round stoppage of then undefeated contender Martin Ruedas of Argentina. Valdez has made four successful defenses of his belt, the last one against Quigg in March 10 of this year.

“As a boxer, you have to able to develop as much as you can and I believe that this change to Eddy Reynoso will help me become an even better all-around boxer and fighter. I want to be one of the best fighters in the world and leave the best legacy that I can in boxing. And I will always work hard to achieve the greatness that I seek,” said Valdez.

“This is a challenge for me because Oscar Valdez is a great fighter, and one of my goals is to work on what’s necessary to make him a complete fighter. I think Oscar will bring out the best of me as a trainer, while I will bring the best out of him as a world champion and as a representative of Mexico,” said Reynoso who is in San Diego, California with Alvarez as he gets ready for his fight on September 15 in Las Vegas against Gennady Golovkin.

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