OSCAR VALDEZ HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO DEFEND HIS 130-POUND TITLE AGAINST ROBSON CONCEICAO IN SPITE OF TESTING POSITIVE FOR A BANNED SUBSTANCE.
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OSCAR VALDEZ (29-0, 23 KOs)
VS. ROBSON CONCEICAO (16-0, 8 KOs)
- Date: Friday, Sept. 10
- Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Casino Del Sol, Tucson, Ariz.
- TV/Stream: ESPN+
- Cost: ESPN+ subscription is $7 a month or $70 annually
- Division: Junior lightweight (130 pounds)
- Weights (from Thursday): Valdez 130, Conceicao 129.6
- At stake: Valdez’s WBC title
- Pound-for-pound ranking: Valdez, Honorable Mention
- Odds: 11½-1 odds (average of multiple sites)
- Also on the card: Gabriel Flores Jr. vs. Luis Alberto Lopez, junior lightweights; Junto Nakatani vs. Angel Acosta, junior lightweights (for Nakatani’s WBO title)
- Prediction: Valdez KO 8
- Background: Valdez’s reputation soared and was floored within a seven-month span. The hard-punching Mexican recorded a career-defining victory by stopping Miguel Berchelt to win a 130-pound belt in February only to test positive for a banned substance in the week before his first defense, although he was placed on probation and allowed to defend his belt. Valdez denies he knowingly used a PED. The former featherweight champ reached new heights by putting his respected countryman Berchelt down three times and stopping him in Round 10 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, after which he climbed onto some pound-for-pound lists. Then, last Tuesday, we learned that he tested positive for the weight-loss medication phentermine, which is banned by the drug-testing outlet to which the fighters agreed, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Phentermine is also a stimulant that can enhance endurance. The Pascua Yaqui Tribal Athletic Commission, which is overseeing the card, allowed the fight to go on because it adheres to World Anti-Doping Agency rules. WADA bans the drug only when it’s detected closer to the competition. And the WBC decided probation was sufficient. Conceicao, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist from Brazil, has vast amateur experience but has faced no one near Valdez’s status as a professional. He has taken part in only three scheduled 10-rounders.