Oscar Valdez explosive in knocking out Matias Rueda in second to win title

Oscar Valdez/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

Oscar Valdez, a highly touted featherweight out of Mexico, is now a world champion after knocking out Matias Rueda of Argentina at 2:18 of the second round to win the title recently vacated by Vasyl Lomachenko.

The bout was the semi-main event to the junior welterweight title-unification fight between Viktor Postol and Terence Crawford won by Crawford via wide decision.

Valdez (20-0, 18 KOs) came out swinging and laid some serious leather on Rueda (26-1) in the first round. Valdez then decked Rueda with an absolutely vicious left hook to the body in the second round, Rueda tasting the canvas after a second delay.

Rueda rose at about nine seconds, but Valdez was on him again and landed several shots to the head before again decking Rueda with a body shot. The bout was waved off right then and Valdez ran around the ring in celebration.

“The best day of my life,” Valdez said. “It’s what my father and I have dreamed of since I started boxing.”

Rueda was simply overmatched, his record coming in notwithstanding.

“He caught me with a good (punch) in the second round and that was it,” Rueda said. “I could never recover from that.”

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Viktor Postol, Terence Crawford make weight for their showdown Saturday

Terence Crawford/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

All four fighters for Saturday’s two main fights at MGM Grand in Las Vegas made weight Friday.

Viktor Postol weighed 139 1/2 pounds and Terence Crawford came in at the 140-pound limit for their junior welterweight title-unification bout (on HBO pay-per-view).

Postol, of Ukraine, is 28-0 with 12 knockouts. Crawford, of Omaha, Neb., is 28-0 with 20 knockouts.

The semi-main event will feature a vacant featherweight world-title fight between Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 KOs) of Mexico and Matias Rueda (26-0, 23 KOs) of Argentina. Valdez weighed in at the 126-pound limit, Rueda came in a pound light at 125.

 

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