Luis “Orlandito” del Valle (15-0, 11KO’s) has championship blood running through his veins. In 1992, his cousin, Rafael del Valle, traveled to England and defeated local champion Duke McKenzie in the first round, becoming the WBO bantamweight World Champion.
“Orlandito is making a really good impression in boxing. His team is doing a great job by giving him more experience at each fight. When time comes for a world title shot, Orlandito will be more than ready. He has the talent to do so, and more important, he always listens,” says Rafael del Valle.
For “Orlandito”, his family is the most important thing, and this is especially true when it comes to his cousin. On Friday, April 27, in Miami, Oklahoma, and as part of the “ShoBox: The New Generation” series, the undefeated Boricua will take on another tough test, en route to continue this legacy.
“It’s an honor and, at the same time, a huge motivation to come from a family that already has a World Champion. On April 27, I will be ready to defend my family’s legacy and mark the beginning of the new generation,” said the young prospect, who last year outclassed Vietnamese fighter Dat Nguyen (17-2) by unanimous decision in New York on the Eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade.
This will be the most important fight of Del Valle’s career, co-featuring the event against Christopher Martin (23-1-3, 6KO’s), who has already beaten several top prospects like Chris Avalos and Eduardo Arcos. Martin also had a controversial draw with undefeated boxer Teon Kennedy.
“I need to show everybody where I stand in this sport and Martin’s experience will help develop myself as a boxer,” said Orlandito.
Del Valle began his professional career at the featherweight (126lbs) division where he was ranked #4 by the World Boxing Association (WBA) and #8 by the World Boxing Organization (WBO). Currently, Del Valle is campaigning at super bantamweight (122lbs).
The 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalist and WBC Youth super featherweight World Champion, José “Sniper” Pedraza (7-0, 6 KO’s) will be opening the broadcast at 11:00pm (ET) with a bout set for eight rounds against Gil García (5-1-1, 2KO’s) from Texas.
The boxing card, which is promoted by Dibella Entertainment, will be held at the Buffalo Run Casino, and will feature the main event fight between current IBO super middleweight champion Thomas Oosthuizen (18-0, 13 KO’s) and Marcus Johnson (23-1, 12 KO’s).
Pedraza and Del Valle are members of “Team Puerto Rico”, a collaboration of fighters between Gary Shaw Productions, Dibella Entertainment, Universal Promotions and Warriors Boxing made with the goal of gathering the best of Puerto Rico’s boxing talents.
