Ni: Gilbert Espeña

MINALIIT ni WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez ang kakayahan ni undefeated Filipino Genesis Servania at nangakong magpapasiklab sa harap ng kanyang mga kababayan sa Setyembre 22 sa Tucson, Arizona sa United States.

Itinuturing ikalawang tahanan ni Valdez ang Tucson Arena na malapit lamang sa kanyang sinilangang Sonora, Mexico.

“I’m very excited and once again I get the chance to fight in Tucson. The last time I fought there was 2015 and it was great. Hopefully this time I can bring a bigger crowd,” sabi ni Valdez sa BoxingScene.com.

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“A lot of friends and family will be there because I got a lot of friends in Tucson and it’s only 45 minutes away from Nogales, my hometown. So it’s going to be great knowing it’s going to be close for my family to come down. I have family that already lives there,” diin ni Valdez na dalawang beses naging kinatawan ng Mexico sa Olympics.

Huling naidepensa ni Valdez ang kanyang titulo sa pagtalo sa puntos kay Colombian Miguel Marriaga noong nakaraang Abril 22 sa StubHub Center sa Carson, California at huli siyang lumaban nang patulugin ang Pilipino na si Ernie Sanchez.

“It took me awhile to recover, it was a tough fight. It’s one of the reasons why it surprised me that Miguel Marriaga took the fight (versus WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko) on such short notice. I felt it was a tough fight for both of us and it took me some time to recover, a couple week to recover from that, dagdag ni Valdez. “Now I’m feeling in great shape because of that recovery.”

Nakabase ngayon sa Japan si Servania na dating boksingero ng ALA Stable at nasungkit ang WBO Asia Pacific featherweight belt noong Abril 29, 2017 laban sa kababayang si Ralph John Lulu na tinalo niya sa 6th round TKO sa Sangyo Hall, Kanazawa, Japan.

May rekord si Servania na perpektong 29-0, 12 panalo lamang sa knockouts kumpara kay Valdez na may 22 pagwawagi, 19 sa knockouts.