By Norm Frauenheim-
It’s never been much of a secret. It could be a great fight. Now, it’s official. Shakur Stevenson-versus-Oscar Valdez Jr. is going to happen
Stevenson and Valdez formally signed Thursday for a junior-lightweight fight projected for April 30 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. Top Rank posted photos on social media of each fighter sealing the deal for a bout that has been in the works for at least a month.
In hindsight, it’s a fight that’s been inevitable for a couple of years. Both are unbeaten. Both have belts. Both are Top Rank fighters, meaning there weren’t the usual hurdles that keep rival promoters from ever getting to the table.
There’s been speculation that the deal wasn’t done a few weeks ago because Stevenson wanted provisions about drug testing written into the contract. That’s reasonable, given the furor over Valdez’ positive test for a stimulant – phentermine – about a month before his Sept.10 fight with Robson Conceicao in Tucson, Valdez’ second home.
Valdez was allowed to fight because of different rules – WADA instead of VADA — regulating the bout on Pascua Yaqui land. Valdez went on to retain his World Boxing Council title, scoring a debatable decision over Conceicao. But the controversy lingers.
It’ll still be there, part of the story, if not the marketing. For Valdez, it figures to be a source of motivation. The fight is an opportunity for him to get past the controversy. It’s still not clear why he tested positive. He blamed a herbal tea.
But the social-media mob believes that one about as much as it believes Canelo Alvarez’ claim that tainted beef was the reason he tested positive in 2018 for clenbuterol, a steroid, before his rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin.
Canelo went on to answer the furor by beating Golovkin in a postponed bout. What controversy? Just a few days before the Super Bowl, here’s an old, yet always relevant quote from late Raiders owner Al Davis.
Just win, baby.
Question the ethics, but not the effectiveness. Winning works, especially in a game where ethics are, well, negotiable.
For Valdez, however, victory won’t be as likely as the “just” in Davis’ enduring line might suggest.
Winning has been predictable for Canelo, now a Valdez stablemate whose current negotiations might lead to a bout, also in Las Vegas on May 7, the Saturday after the projected date for Valdez-Stevenson. Winning is all Canelo has done. He’s 8-0, post-clenbuterol.
Stevenson has already opened as the betting favorite, according to some online books. He’s at minus-250, making him a 5-2 favorite. That puts Stevenson’s chances at 71.4 percent. Don’t be surprised if the odds in his favor grow.
He’s got all the documented advantages. At 24, he’s seven years younger than the 31-year-old Valdez. Stevenson is two inches taller and has a two-inch advantage in reach.
The numbers, however, don’t measure the intangibles, especially Valdez’ tenacity. It’s off the charts. Put it this way: Valdez is never in an easy fight. He’s never lost one either, including a crazy night nearly four years ago in the rain at Carson CA when he overcame a broken jaw to score a unanimous decision over a bigger Scott Quigg.
Despite the victory, there were doubts about whether there was much left of Valdez after that bloody night. Turns out there was plenty, including a stunning knockout of heavily favored Miguel Berchelt a year ago.
Then, there was the bigger Conceicao, who was beating Valdez through the first half of their fight on a hot desert day in an outdoor ring in Tucson. But Valdez battled back – both from potential distractions brought on by the PED controversy and Conceicao’s early advantage.
So far, Valdez’ tenacity has been inexhaustible. Nobody bites down quite the way he does.
It’s a factor that’s hard to quantify and harder to predict. But if that Valdez tenacity is still there, it could test Stevenson in ways he has never been tested.
For Stevenson, this a fight for pound-for-pound recognition. It’s a potential springboard to the stardom many believed was there when he came home from Brazil with a 2012 Olympic silver medal.
For both, the fight is defining. For different reasons, it’s personal, which is another way of saying the stakes have never been more dramatic. This deal has a chance to be a classic. An official one.
