蜜柚直播

鈥淒efinitely a learning experience,鈥� Valdez said. 鈥淭hat mistake was only a mistake of two seconds.鈥�

Valdez overcame the fall to beat Genesis Servania in a 12-round unanimous decision in September 2017 and retain his WBO featherweight title.

Valdez, now fighting at super featherweight (130 pounds), has won six more fights since then to improve to 29-0 (23 KOs) heading into his 蜜柚直播 return against Robson Conceicao on Sept. 10 at Casino Del Sol.

Valdez鈥檚 last fight was the most memorable yet: The product of Nogales and 蜜柚直播 delivered an upset knockout of Miguel Berchelt on Feb. 20 in Las Vegas that earned him the WBC super featherweight belt and put him in the conversation for the sport鈥檚 top pound-for-pound fighters.

The way Valdez described it Tuesday, on a dual-language Zoom media call to promote the Sept. 10 fight, he might not have had that recent success without the quick lesson of that 2017 night in 蜜柚直播 Arena.

鈥淚 was thinking of a body shot that he hit me with and I was going 鈥榃ow, did that shot hurt me or not?鈥�" Valdez said. 鈥淲hile I was thinking, I was crossing my legs and then he caught me with a right hand and sent me to the canvas.鈥�

鈥淭hat made me think that I can鈥檛 lose focus and step out of the game plan for even two seconds because those two seconds can be the difference between winning and losing.鈥�

That lesson wasn鈥檛 the only reason Valdez says he鈥檚 a different fighter today. For one thing, he moved up four pounds to 130 in November 2019, first stopping Adam Lopez in the seventh round of a WBC super featherweight eliminator. He then beat Jayson Velez in July 2020 before getting Berchelt in the MGM Grand鈥檚 鈥渂ubble鈥� on Feb. 20, having found strength and comfort at the higher weight class.

鈥淲hen I was 126, it was very hard for me to make weight, and by the fourth or fifth round I wasn鈥檛 the same fighter,鈥� Valdez said. 鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 feel I was myself. Now I feel I鈥檓 a completely different fighter. I鈥檓 stronger. I鈥檓 more energetic and I have the stamina to fight from the first to the 12th round.鈥�

Valdez also switched trainers three years ago, going with Eddy Reynoso after beating Scott Quigg in March 2018. Now training in San Diego, Valdez said he鈥檚 constantly adjusting his training strategy and emphasis under Reynoso.

鈥淓very day, we work on something different 鈥� we work on our jab, work on that perfect uppercut, work on that perfect right hand," Valdez said. "We always try to perfect every punch, because in boxing, you never stop learning. There's always something to learn, and Eddy Reynoso is the perfect teacher for that.鈥�

Against Conceicao, Valdez has a specific set of tasks ahead: He must deal with the fact that his Brazilian opponent stands five inches taller than him at 5-foot-10陆 and has a 70-inch reach that is four inches longer than Valdez's.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 fight the way we fought Berchelt because Conceicao has a way more different style,鈥� Valdez said, also acknowledging the gap in measurables. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a little bit more technical.鈥�

Conceicao actually beat Valdez by a single point in the gold-medal match of the 2009 Pan American Games before going on to win a gold medal in the 2016 Olympics. He's 16-0 with 8 KOs as a pro.

鈥淭here's something very curious 鈥� when we were in amateurs, we kind of didn't like each other and we always kind of went back and forth looking at each other, giving each other faces, saying who was more macho, who was tougher,鈥� Valdez said. 鈥淗e beat me and I remember crying and saying, 'One day I'm gonna fight him again, maybe in the amateurs or maybe he鈥檇 be a sparring partner or something.' Never did cross my mind that it was he was gonna be a possible rival for me as a professional.

鈥淣ow, this is my chance. This is my chance. I'm very focused.鈥�

Valdez will also get that chance in front of a home crowd that has seen him turn things around before.