In the Oscar Valdez vs. Shakur Stevenson match, Valdez will seek to unify the Super-Featherweight division when he goes against the WBC champ Oscar Valdez on Saturday, April 30, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, California. This is the match that people had wanted to watch for a long period. Both the boxers were in the featherweight division together. There was also a lot of conversation that they may come together for a match. They have also moved up to the same weight division. The Oscar Valdez vs. Shakur Stevenson odds is in favor of Shakur Stevenson. Whenever the fans look at a match such as this, which is posed as slugger vs. boxer, they prefer to go with the boxer. This is unless there is a major reason to side with the slugger.
We think that Shakur Stevenson is one of the top boxers on the planet. He is on his path to being the prime boxer in sports. He has not reached that point yet. But he will soon if he continues in the same vein as the previous few years. He has the ability to clearly outbox Oscar Valdez in this match. But Oscar is going to have an opportunity because if Shakur makes any mistake, Oscar has the power to take advantage. He has also shown it previously against Miguel Berchett to end the match. But we still think that the Oscar Valdez vs. Shakur Stevenson odds is in favor of Stevenson. So, the fans can go ahead and lay their bets. We bet that Shakur Stevenson will grab the match. Oscar has not been verbal in the build-up before the match. He has also said that he will allow his rival to do all the talking before the match. He said he would show the entire boxing fraternity his abilities inside the boxing ring.
On the contrary, the Olympic silver medalist has been playing a different tune. Stevenson has been quite vocal before that match. He has continued to trash-talk his rival and has also claimed that it will be the simplest match of his entire life. The Oscar Valdez vs. Shakur Stevenson match is going to be the judgment day for both the boxers. David Benavidez has also showered a lot of praise on Shakur Stevenson. The latter is training hard to prepare himself for the match against Oscar Valdez that is going to be held a week from now. Benavidez gave an interview and said that he thinks Oscar Valdez will be beaten by the WBO Super Featherweight title-holder Shakur Stevenson. Benavidez said, "I feel the same way about him [Stevenson]. He's a great fighter. He's probably one of the best 130-pounders in the world today. And I feel like he's going to go in there and beat Valdez no problem. I think it's gonna be very difficult for Valdez to even catch him, or you know, catch Stevenson's counter, you know? Stevenson, he's a bad m*********er as well."
Shakur Stevenson really likes what the promotional firm of Bob Arum has done for his professional career in the period since he signed with Top Rank. The Olympic silver medalist has been showcased a lot during the entire span of his pro boxing career. The boxer is already a multimillionaire and has obtained world championship belts in multiple weight classes. The boxer still did not want to sit around silently when it became apparent that the promoter wanted a match between Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez and not Stevenson. This was after the impressive win of Navarrete against Jamel Herring at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Shakur spoke his mind during a press conference after the match that night. He had put public pressure on the promoter to give him the match he wanted for more than a couple of years. He wanted a chance against Valdez, who was undefeated till then.
It took Valdez himself to say that he wanted to go against Stevenson for the fight to be planned. But Valdez vacated his featherweight belt instead of taking on the mandatory defense against Stevenson. Following that, Stevenson won that belt after defeating Joet Gonzalez. Stevenson said, "I have been chasing this fight for nearly three years since we were both at featherweight. On April 30, I'm going to show him and the world why he ducked me all this time. I'm the best young fighter in the world, and I will become a unified champion."
Canelo Alvarez recently gave his thoughts regarding the Oscar Valdez vs. Shakur Stevenson odds. Canelo Alvarez has said that Valdez should try to be smart to improve the Oscar Valdez vs. Shakur Stevenson odds. He should employ all his skills against the WBO super featherweight title-holder Stevenson and not try to play to the gallery much on match day. He feels that the WBC champ puts too much importance on keeping the fans entertained by going to battle against his rivals instead of utilizing his boxing capabilities to make it much swifter for him. Valdez will have to be wise against the defensive artist Shakur Stevenson to improve the odds. He said that Stevenson is a boxer who uses his rivals' aggression to counter them and get the upper hand in his matches. Stevenson had recently shown that he could defeat a boxer with more power than Oscar when he won a victory against Jeremiah Nakathila by unanimous decision last year.
Shakur has been training recently with the WBO welterweight belt holder Terence Crawford to assist him in getting ready for his upcoming match. It is not clear how much training with him helped Stevenson for his match against Valdez. This is because his style of boxing is completely different. If Shakur were going against a counter puncher that switches hits, it would help him train with Crawford. But that is not the case in this match against Oscar. Many fans think that it will not be very helpful for Valdez to get advice from Canelo. This is because there is a big gap in talent between him and Shakur.
Canelo said, "It will be a very difficult fight for both fighters, but Oscar [Valdez] has a lot of experience and has a really good training camp, so it will be a good fight. I'm surprised that [Oscar Valdez is being underestimated] because Oscar can do many things in the ring. He always tries, 'I'm going to put on a show for the people, go forward and try to in & out, and take a punch and throw punches. I said, 'Oscar, this fight is going to be different. You need to keep focused and win the fight, not put on a show for the people because he's a really good skilled fighter who moves around. So, if you go forward, he's going to do his fight. You're going to fight his fight. So, you need to be very careful and do your fight to win the fight.'"
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Country |
Mexico |
USA |
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Age |
31 years |
24 years |
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Pro |
9 years |
5 years |
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Height |
5′ 5½″ (166 cm) |
5′ 8″ (173 cm) |
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Reach |
66″ (168 cm) |
68″ (173 cm) |
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Division |
super featherweight |
super featherweight |
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Stance |
orthodox |
southpaw |
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Titles |
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Record |
30 - 0 - 0 |
17 - 0 - 0 |
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KOs |
76% |
52% |
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Inactive |
232 days |
189 days |