Golden Boy boxing returns on Friday, July 24 as Vergil Ortiz Jr. (15-0, 15 KOs) defends his WBA Gold Welterweight Title in a 12-round battle against Samuel Vargas (31-5-2, 14 KOs).
The fight will be streamed live on DAZN from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. It is the first event for both Golden Boy and DAZN after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The night will feature a stacked card of fighters, including a little-known friend of Ortiz Jr., a young man named Hector Valdez (12-0, 8 KOs).
This 25-year-old super bantamweight prospect from Dallas, Texas is also a longtime friend of Vergil Ortiz Sr., the father of the welterweight contender.
Ortiz Sr. is Valdez’s manager.
In a recent interview with Round By Round Boxing, Valdez discussed how this father and son duo was integral to his signing with Golden Boy in March of this year.
Apparently, though, the news of his being signed was a total surprise for him.
“I went to the [Golden Boy] office because Vergil was having a press conference,” said Valdez. “Then they said, ‘Come over here. We’re going to talk.'”
Valdez was totally caught off guard. He thought it was just another Golden Boy event he was visiting.
“And then they suddenly told me I was going to get signed,” said Valdez. “I was in shock. I didn’t really show it because of how shocked I was.”
“It’s nothing but up from here,” he then thought to himself.
But things weren’t always looking bright for Valdez. In his first professional fight, he only made a whopping one dollar.
The promoter of the event, who he did not name, informed his team that they did not have any money to pay for an additional fight for a card they were hosting.
“They told us we would have to pay for the opponent if we wanted to fight,” said Valdez. “We fought, but I think they just gave me a dollar so that it would seem legal. That way they could say that I got paid.”
Things now look a lot better for Valdez as he returns on the July 24 undercard of Ortiz vs. Vargas in an eight-rounder against Josue Morales (11-11-4, 1 KO) of Houston, Texas.
Also on the undercard are Shane Mosley Jr. (15-3, 9 KOs), Hector Valdez (12-0, 8 KOs), Evan Sanchez (7-0, 6 KOs) and Seniesa “Superbad” Estrada (18-0, 7 KOs) in separate bouts.
The co-main event of this card will feature a 10-round battle between Hector “El Finito” Tanajara Jr. (19-0, 5 KOs) and Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (32-3-3, 17 KOs) for the USNBC Lightweight Championship.
Which fight of this card are you looking forward to most?
