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Oscar Valdez vs. Adam Lopez II & Raymond Muratalla vs.
Jeremia Nakathila Round Out
Haney vs. Loma PPV Undercard On May 20
Two high-stakes matchups will be featured on the Top Rank on
ESPN+ PPV undercard headlined by the undisputed lightweight
showdown between Devin “The Dream” Haney and Vasiliy “Loma”
Lomachenko on Saturday, May 20 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena
in Las Vegas.
The 10-round junior lightweight co-feature will see former
two-division world champion Oscar Valdez taking on Adam
“BluNose” Lopez in a rematch of their 2019 battle.
In the PPV opener, rising lightweight Raymond “Danger”
Muratalla takes a big step up in competition versus
big-punching Namibian contender Jeremia Nakathila in a
10-round clash.
Haney vs. Lomachenko will stream live on Top Rank on ESPN+
PPV, the event’s exclusive digital distributor in the United
States, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Additionally, it
will be available via cable and satellite pay-per-view
providers and will be priced at $59.99 across all
distributors.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Devin Haney
Promotions and DiBella Entertainment, tickets starting at
$104, plus applicable service charges, are on sale now at
axs.com.
Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs) of Nogales, Mexico, represented his
country in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. As a pro, he captured
the WBO featherweight world title against Matias Rueda in
2016 and made six defenses. In 2019, he fought Lopez in his
first fight at junior lightweight, rising off the canvas
before stopping him in controversial fashion in the seventh
round. Valdez would go on to defeat Jayson Velez before
scoring a stunning 10th-round knockout over Miguel Berchelt
to capture the WBC junior lightweight title. The 32-year-old
suffered his first defeat in a unification fight at MGM
Grand Garden Arena against Shakur Stevenson last April, and
a year later, he is ready for another run at a 130-pound
title.
Valdez said, “I feel very happy to finally be returning to
the place where I most like to be, which is inside the ring,
after a one-year absence from boxing. I feel happy to
finally be returning. I am very motivated, more than ever,
to continue my dream to once again become a world champion.
That is my goal this year.
“In order to do that, I have to get past this obstacle,
which is not going to be easy. I’m going to be facing
someone that I fought in 2019 in Adam Lopez, an experienced
opponent who even sent me to the canvas in the early rounds
of our first fight. I cannot take him lightly, and that’s
making me train harder now. I have to get past this fight to
be able to fight the current champion, Emanuel ‘El Vaquero’
Navarrete.”
Lopez (16-4, 6 KOs) is a 26-year-old native of Glendale,
California, who has the sport in his bloodline. His father,
the late Hector Lopez, captured a silver medal for Team
Mexico at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Lopez earned a Top
Rank contract with his off-the-canvas knockout victory over
Jean Carlos Rivera in May 2019. Following the Rivera
victory, he fought Valdez on a day’s notice after Valdez’s
original opponent was more than 10 pounds overweight. Lopez
is 3-2 with a no contest since the first Valdez fight,
including hard-fought decision victories over Louie Coria
and Jason Sanchez.
Lopez said, “He should have picked someone else. He barely
got away the first time around. This time, it will be clear
that I’m the better fighter. I’m coming to get mine back May
20.”
Muratalla (17-0, 14 KOs) is the latest standout to come out
of the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy. He debuted in 2016 in
Mexico and made his U.S. debut in 2018. Muratalla has
stopped 12 of his last 13 opponents and shined at the MGM
Grand Garden Arena last April with a third round stoppage
over Jeremy Hill. The native of Fontana, California, returns
less than two months since his ninth-round knockout win over
Humberto Galindo in March. Muratalla survived a first-round
knockdown to dominate Galindo.
“This is my time. This is my moment,” Muratalla said. “I’ve
been asking for this fight for a long time, and I am
thrilled it’s taking place on such a significant card.
Nakathila is a dangerous fighter, but that will only fuel me
to put on a sensational performance.”
Nakathila (23-2, 19 KOs) is a 32-year-old former title
challenger from the South African country of Namibia. He
made his pro debut in 2013 and went 11-0 in his home country
before traveling to Russia to face Evgeny Chuprakov in his
first regional title opportunity. Following his first loss,
the hard-hitting Nakathila bounced back with 10 knockout
wins before securing a shot at Shakur Stevenson for the
interm WBO title at 130 pounds. Nakathila is coming off two
stoppage victories, including a brutal sixth-round
demolition over Berchelt.
Nakathila said, “I’m excited to return to Las Vegas to give
Muratalla a boxing lesson he will never forget. The
experience will be valuable for his career, though, and I
hope he is ready because I have every intention of taking
care of business just like I did the last time I was there.
It’s a great opportunity, and I’m happy to be back in the
ring again on such an attractive card.”
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