LOS ANGELES (March 8, 2018) — Oscar Valdez and Scott Quigg have sparred as pros, but come Saturday night, they will fight for the highest stakes in the sport.
Valdez (23-0, 19 KOs) will make the fourth defense of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) Featherweight title against Quigg (34-1-2, 25 KOs) at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. The Valdez vs. Quigg world championship event will be televised live and exclusively at 10:30 p.m. EST on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN App.
The other ESPN-televised bout will feature a pair of undefeated 130-pound contenders, when Andy ‘El Tiburon' Vences of San Jose, Calif., takes on Detroit product Erick De Leon. Vences (20-0, 12 KOs) is making his 2018 debut after a 3-0 2017 campaign, which included a two-round knockout against Jairo Ochoa on November 11, 2017, in Fresno, Calif.
De Leon (17-0, 10 KOs) has an unblemished mark as a pro after a sensational amateur career that saw him win three consecutive National Golden Gloves titles. Part of renowned trainer Robert Garcia’s stable in Oxnard, Calif., De Leon is confident that a win over Vences will put him in prime position for a world title shot.
The rest of the undercard will be shown live on the ESPN App, beginning at 7:35 p.m. EST, and includes WBO No. 3 junior welterweight contender Alex 'El Cholo' Saucedo (26-0, 16 KOs); 2016 U.S. Olympian Mikaela Mayer (3-0, 2 KOs); Arnold Barboza, Jr. against Mike 'Yes Indeed' Reed in a battle of 140-pound contenders; middleweight contender Esquiva Falcao; and former heavyweight title challenger Andy 'Destroyer' Ruiz making his ring return following a 15-month layoff.
Check out what Valdez and Quigg had to say:
Oscar Valdez
“We’re looking for the bigger names and, here we go, we have one in front of us. I have to take it more than seriously. I’ve heard this plenty of times: If you want to be considered the best, you have to fight the best. And I do see Scott Quigg as one of the best fighters out there. Definitely, I am very excited for this fight.”
On sparring Quigg in 2017: “I was really focused on my fight with MiguelMarriaga. The sparring session was just a sparring session for me. We did some great work. I’ve been telling everybody if the fight is as good as the sparring session, they can expect fireworks because Scott Quigg is a great fighter. He proved it in that sparring session.”
“Me and my trainer, Manny Robles, did a tremendous job in the gym going back and forth on the mistakes we made, the good and bad, and we worked on it in the gym. We’re going to prove it on Saturday night.”
“Scott Quigg is a good fighter, and the Genesis Servania fight is in the past already. We’re trying to correct our mistakes, and we’re going to show it on Saturday night.”
Scott Quigg
“First of all, I want to thank Top Rank and Matchroom for this opportunity. Live on ESPN, this is a great opportunity. I’m going to be booed into the ring, but I plan on being cheered out.”
“This is a bigger fight. Oscar is billed as the next featherweight star. He’s not put a foot wrong thus far. He’s 23-0 with 19 knockouts. When {promoter} Eddie Hearn got on the phone with me and said the fight was offered, I told him this is a fight that excites me. Respect to Oscar, respect to his team, his trainer {Manny Roble}, they’re good people. They want to be the best, so you’ve got to fight the best.”
“I take my hat off to Valdez. This is a voluntary defense. They didn’t have to pick me. He could’ve chosen an easier defense. Credit to Team Valdez, but I’m going to make sure on Saturday night that they regret picking me.”
On sparring Valdez in 2017: “At the time, we never knew if we were going to cross paths. There was always potential for that. I was preparing for Viorel Simion and he was preparing for the {Miguel}Marriaga fight. We helped each other out and got some good work in. All I know from the spar is, the fans are going to be in for a real treat.”
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Matchroom Boxing, remaining tickets for the Valdez vs. Quigg world championship event are priced at $206, $104, $53 and 27.50, including facility fees, and can be purchased online at AXS.com, by phone at (888) 9AXS-TIX, or by visiting the StubHub Center box office.
For more information visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook: facebook.com/trboxing,facebook.com/espndeportes; Twitter: twitter.com/trboxing,twitter.com/trboxeo, @ESPN @ESPNBoxeo @ESPNDeportes. Use the hashtags #ValdezQuigg and #DeLeonVences to join the conversation on Twitter.
