Oscar Valdez vs Carmine Tommasone Preview Feb. 2nd
Undefeated WBO Featherweight Champion Oscar Valdez of Mexico will be defending his title against unbeaten Carmine Tommasone of Italy this Saturday, Feb. 2nd. The 12-round bout will be taking place in Frisco, Texas and can be seen live in the USA on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Fans in the UK can catch it on BoxNation and those in Canada can see it on TSN 3. Valdez last fought in March when he beat Scott Quigg via a 12-round unanimous decision. Tommasone’s last outing was in November when he beat Giovanny Martinez by a six-round unanimous decision.
Valdez vs Tommasone Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Carmine Tommasone +2731
- Oscar Valdez -9091
My Pick
The 28-year-old Valdez has moved back to Mexico from Tucson, Arizona where he grew up, and enters the contest with a perfect record of with 24-0 with 19 Kos. He obviously has better-than-average power with a knockout ratio of 79 per cent, but he’s now gone the distance in his last three bouts. He’s just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 66-inch reach. Valdez has 122 rounds of pro experience under his belt since turning pro in 2012. He had a stellar amateur career and is the only two-time boxing Olympian from Mexico. However he failed to win a medal at the 2008 or 2012 Games in Beijing and London.
Valdez did win a dozen medals in other international competitions though and had more than 200 amateur bouts. One of these included a loss to current world champion and pound-for-pound contender Vasyl Lomachenko. Valdez hasn’t been fighting a steady diet of Grade A boxers, but has beaten the likes of Quigg, Miguel Marriaga, Hiroshige Osawa, Evgeny Gradovich, Chris Avalos, Jose Ramirez, Alberto Garza and Ruben Tamayo. So far he’s had to go the distance just five times in his pro career, but as mentioned, he’s now been taken the distance in three straight outings.
As for Tommasone, he’s a 34-year-old who enters the fight with a perfect mark of 19-0 with just 5 Kos. He has negligible power with a current knockout ratio of 26 per cent. He turned pro back in 2010, but has fought just 119 rounds since then. He actually fought in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as a pro and had the embarrassing distinction of losing in the second round of competition in the lightweight division. He stands 5-feet-6-inches tall with an unlisted reach which gives him an inch height advantage over the champion.
Tommasone is a former Italian Featherweight Champion and has also won the WBA Inter-Continental, and European Union Featherweight Titles which were both vacant at the time. But if we look closer at his record, there’s not really a recognizable name on it. Of his 19 opponents, just eight have had winning records. Of those eight, two of them were just 1-0 and another was 3-2. His last three fights have been six-rounders with just one of his foes having a winning mark and that was 3-2, so I’m not really sure what Tommasone’s done to warrant a world title shot.
Prediction…
Valdez isn’t the best world champion of the dozens in boxing, but he’s got power, a good chin and heart. Tommasone’s stepping up in class here and it’s unlikely he’s going to take the title. He may last the distance though.
A Tommasone win would be a huge upset.
Play: Valdez -9091 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.