Valdez, Donaire added to Pacquiao-Vargas undercard

Sep

Newly-crowned WBO featherweight world titleholder Oscar Valdez will make the defense of his belt against Hiroshige Osawa on Nov. 5, manager Frank Espinoza confirmed to RingTV on Wednesday.

The 12-round bout will take place on the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas undercard at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The bout will be part of the four-bout pay-per-view broadcast that will be produced and distributed by Top Rank (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).

Valdez won the vacant WBO title on July 23, stopping Matias Ruedas in the second round in at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Valdez is the latest fighter from the Top Rank stable to make his pro debut with the company and eventually win a world title belt. The two-time Olympian who represented Mexico made his pro debut in November of 2012.

Valdez (20-0, 18 knockouts) has stopped his last four opponents, including Chris Avalos and Evgeny Gradovich.

The 25-year-old Valdez is THE RING’s No. 8-ranked featherweight.

Osawa (30-3-4, 19 KOs) is the mandatory challenger for the WBO title. The 31-year-old from Osaka, Japan, is unbeaten in his last 16 bouts.

In his last bout on Apr. 2, Osawa stopped Yon Armed in the first round.

Espinoza also confirmed to RingTV Wednesday that Jessie Magdaleno will challenge WBO junior featherweight world titleholder Nonito Donaire on Nov. 5.

Magdaleno (23-0, 17 KOs), who is managed by Frank Espinoza, has been the mandatory challenger for the WBO title for almost a year.

Donaire (37-3, 24 KOs) has won his last four bouts since losing to Nicholas Walters in October of 2014.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers voting for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing