Undefeated Oscar Valdez and undefeated No. 1 junior featherweight contender Jessie Magdaleno held a workout on Thursday at Jack Rabbit Boxing Club in Long Beach, Calif.
Both men are in deep training for their respective championship fights which will take place as the co-features to the Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas welterweight title fight, on Saturday, November 5, at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Valdez (21-0, 18 KOs), from Nogales, Mexico, who represented Mexico in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, was the first Mexican fighter to qualify for two Olympic games. He will be making his first title defense, against No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger Hiroshige Osawa (30-3-4, 19 KOs), from Osaka, Japan.
Magdaleno (23-0, 17 KOs), from Las Vegas, Nev., will be challenging four-division world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire (37-3, 24 KOs), from General Santos City, Philippines, for his WBO junior featherweight title.
Not only did they look ready, they sounded ready. Here’s what they had to say:
Óscar Valdez
“When you are a champion there is pressure to maintain your performance and keep your world title. I am defending against a tall, rangy fighter who has more fights than me. He really has an awkward style of fighting which is challenging for me as well. However it is nothing I have not seen before. I am going to win this one for Mexico.”
Jessie Magdaleno
“I am going against Nonito who is smart in the ring, has a dangerous left hook I must deal with. A real good hard shot to the body will take away some of his left hook power. And once he really opens up it’s better for me to get in big punches. He will be strong for about five rounds then there will be a fade and we will take it over. He’s a tough competitor for sure. But this is my dream fight, not his.”
Manny Robles on Óscar Valdez
“Óscar is a world champion for these reasons – dedication, determination, will to win, and the desire to be the best ever.
“While training Óscar we always told him ‘your next fight is your biggest ever — your world title fight.’ Now he is a world champion and he knows the real challenges of keeping the title belt.
“I’ve trained champions like Reggie Johnson, Martin Castillo, Israel Vasquez, Mike Anchondo and now Óscar. Those champions shared similarities in deep focus and strong desire. Óscar possesses those qualities too. I think he will become one of the greatest champions of all time.”
Manny Robles on Jessie Magdaleno
“Fighters like a lot of attention, a trainer who cares for him. That was my priority when I began training Jessie for this big title fight against Nonito Donaire.
“Jessie has done everything we’ve asked. We pay a lot of attention to him and he has responded with such hard training and dedication.
“Jessie has sparred for many rounds — 12 rounds yesterday alone – – and he is totally prepared to beat Donaire.”
Brad Goodman. Top Rank matchmaker
“Nonito and Jessie each have one-punch knockout power. This could be a one-punch knockout fight but I am not sure who wins it.”
