Liam Wilson to return to Arizona for shootout with Oscar Valdez
Liam Wilson is heading back to the place where his dreams were shattered.
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Liam Wilson will take another step back to a world title shot when he faces the all-action Oscar Valdez in Glendale, Arizona on March 29.
An official deal is yet to be reached, but this masthead can confirm the bout is all but done.
For Wilson, it’s a return to the city where his world championship dreams came so cruelly unstuck last February in a controversial defeat to Emanuel Navarrete.
The 27-year-old Queenslander bounced back with wins over Carlos Alanis and Jackson England to round out 2023, and is back in contention for the WBO super-featherweight title.
Valdez, 33, is the former WBC super featherweight world champion and boasts a 31-2 record with 23 knockouts.
The Mexican is known for his aggressive fighting style and willingness to trade and his only two losses have come in high-profile world title fights.
He most recently dropped a one-sided decision to Navarrete, who was in much better shape than when he fought Wilson.
In April 2022, Valdez dropped another decision to Shakur Stevenson for the WBC and WBO super featherweight belts.
Wilson’s loss to Navarrete was voted one of the best fights of 2023, although the Caboolture fighter was short-changed when he dropped ‘Vaquero’ in the fourth round and the referee allowed Navarrete and extremely long count.
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The Mexican went on to stop Wilson in the ninth.
Wilson was made to dig deep in beating England in one of the toughest fights of his career in December.
Immediately after the fight, he called for a domestic showdown with George Kambosos at lightweight, but will first make another run for the WBO super-featherweight title.
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