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Oscar
Valdez, Jesse Hart & Aaron Pryor Jr. Headline Sept. 11 TruTV
Card At The Cosmopolitan
Top 10 contenders ÓSCAR VALDEZ, JESSE "Hard Work" HART and
CHRIS "The Hitman" AVALOS and AARON PRYOR JR. headline the
fall season debut of "The MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout on
truTV," kicking off the Mexican Independence Day weekend on
Friday, September 11, at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan
of Las Vegas. The fight will be televised live on truTV,
beginning at 10:00 p.m. EDT. The telecast will open with
Hart defending his North American Boxing Organization (NABO)
and United States Boxing Association (USBA) super
middleweight championship titles against contender Pryor,
followed by the featherweight battle between Valdez and
Avalos. Both bouts are scheduled for 10 rounds.
These young warriors boast a combined record of 79-11-1 (59
KOs) - an 87 percent winning ratio with 3/4 of their
victories coming by way of knockout.
"I am very happy to be fighting on September 11 in Las
Vegas," said Valdez. "I have a difficult opponent that night
but the plan is to win and get myself closer to that world
title shot I desire."
"I am excited for the fight. It's an interesting matchup
because not a lot of prospects get matched up with tough
opponents these days," said Avalos. "I am looking forward to
not only winning the fight but moving on to another world
title shot. The best part about facing undefeated fighters
is erasing the zero from their loss column. Valdez is next
on my hit parade."
"This is the battle of fighters' sons. We will see who is
the better fighters' son inside the ring," said Hart. "I am
predicting it won't go past four rounds. Pryor is an OK
fighter but he is old news, and I believe I am the future of
boxing, so he has to go!"
"I am looking forward to fighting Jesse Hart on September
11," said Pryor. "Hart is a tough opponent, and it's a great
opportunity for me. See you at The Cosmopolitan of Las
Vegas, live on truTV."
"As Mexico's only fighter to compete in two Olympics, who
else but Óscar Valdez will be his country's star-featured
fighter in Las Vegas' Mexican Independence Day weekend? This
historic weekend was originally anchored by Julio César
Chávez, and the mantle is being passed to Valdez at The
Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas which will be
filled with Mexico's most avid fight fans," said Todd duBoef,
president of Top Rank. “Valdez will be joined by Jesse Hart.
Valdez and Hart have more in common than identical
undefeated records. They have carried the promise of stellar
amateur careers into the pro ranks becoming fan favorites.
They have leapt from exciting prospects into sensational
bona fide Top 10 world-rated contenders. When you win 14 of
17 bouts by knockout like they each have, any opponent who
faces them in the ring knows he will be in harm's way."
Valdez (17-0, 14 KOs), who represented Mexico in the 2008
and 2012 Olympics, was the first Mexican fighter to qualify
for two Olympic games and is considered one of the bright
lights of the featherweight division and a top prospect in
boxing. On the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao - Timothy
Bradley welterweight world championship rematch last year,
Valdez captured the North American Boxing Federation (NABF)
super featherweight junior title, knocking out Adrian Perez
in the fourth round. Valdez successfully defended that title
twice in 2014, knocking out Noel Echevarria and Alberto
Gonzalez in the sixth and seventh rounds, respectively. From
Nogales, Sonora, Mexico Valdez, at age 24, returns to the
ring looking for his third victory of 2015. On April 11, he
fashioned a third-round blasting of Jose Ramirez in Laredo,
Texas. In his last bout, on June 27, he made his live HBO
debut, winning a dominant 10-round unanimous decision over
one-time world title challenger Ruben Tamayo in Carson,
Calif. He is currently world-rated No. 2 by the World Boxing
Organization (WBO).
Avalos (26-3, 19 KOs), from Lancaster, Calif., challenged
for his first world title on February 28, and lost to
defending International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior
featherweight champ Carl Frampton via a fifth-round TKO in
Belfast. Known for his aggressive, all-action fighting
style, Avalos is a fan favorite because he always puts on
exciting fights. Highlights from his impressive resume
include winning the vacant WBO Inter-Continental junior
featherweight via a 10-round unanimous decision over
undefeated Khabir Suleymanov, an NABO junior featherweight
title victory over former world champion Drian Francisco and
becoming the IBF's mandatory junior featherweight contender
last year when he knocked out Yasutaka Ishimoto in the
eighth round which set up his title shot against Frampton.
He returned to the winner's circle on August 1, winning a
unanimous decision over Rey Perez in Frisco, Texas. Avalos
is currently world-rated No. 9 by IBF.
Hart (17-0, 14 KOs), the son of Philadelphia boxing legend
Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, has transformed from a sensational
prospect into a hot contender. He will be defending the NABO
and USBA super middleweight titles he won in his last fight,
a sixth-round TKO of undefeated Mike Jimenez on the
pay-per-view undercard of the Floyd Mayweather - Manny
Pacquiao world welterweight championship in Las Vegas.
Trained by his father, the highly-rated middleweight
contender of the late '60s and early '70s, the younger Hart,
at age 26, enters this fight riding a four-bout victory by
knockout streak. He is currently world-rated No. 6 by the
WBO.
Pryor (19-8-1, 12 KOs), from Cincinnati, is the son of
former world junior welterweight champion and Hall of Famer
Aaron "The Hawk" Pryor, who manages and trains the younger
Pryor. He enters this fight with a 3-1-1 record in his last
four fights, which includes a United States National Boxing
Council (USNBC) super middleweight title victory over
Kurtiss Colvin.
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