Dan Rafael has reported that Stevenson and Valdez are reportedly in advanced talks for a fight which would take place in April. The fight is supposed to take place in Las Vegas with the likely venue in my opinion being the MGM grand. If this fight can be finalized and made then it’ll be one of the better match ups we see this year in the sport. For Stevenson this is the real start of his potential hall of fame run as he’s unifying immediately after winning his first super featherweight world title. At only 24 he has plenty of time and potential to build a resume which sees him enter the hall of fame. Based off his last performance I’d expect him to be a heavy favorite in this fight as Oscar Valdez didn’t look good in his own most recent bout while Stevenson took apart a world champion with relative ease. Valdez at his best can compete and even potentially win this fight as he’s got power and the performance he put on versus Miguel Berchelt was amazing. I don’t think Stevenson is a good stylistic match up for him but i’m glad hes taking the fight.
With Valdez and Stevenson fighting it puts Emanuel Navarrete in a weird spot as he was rumored to be moving up and fighting Valdez but will now have to defend his featherweight title. The WBO featherweight rankings have slim pickings and the other champions are busy so he may have to go back to fighting four or five times a year to stay busy. I’m going to write another post article about who Navarrete could fight next and what his best options are.
Boxing Fulcrum 