Oscar Valdez vs Jayson Velez Odds and Picks for Main Card

• Oscar Valdez vs Jayson Velez goes Tuesday, July 21 at 8pm ET
• Does Valdez keep carving out a path towards another title shot or does Velez get his first win of 2020?
• Check out the main card odds, my sweet science analysis, and my predictions below
  

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Oscar Valdez and Jayson Velez will sling leather inside The Bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout will broadcast on ESPN as Top Rank continues their summer series. Valdez vs Velez on paper looks like it will be a total barnburner. A march forward, bite down on your mouthpiece, and wing bombs kind of a prizefight.

The goal is to have Valdez compete with Miguel Berchelt for the WBC super featherweight world title at some point later in the year. Obviously he needs to secure a W here, otherwise that crack at the crown fades away entirely and Velez is a Iive dog.

Oscar Valdez vs Jayson Velez Odds

Odds as of July 18.

Oscar Valdez’s Path to Another World Title

Valdez is a former WBO featherweight world champion and still very much in that world championship conversation though. The aforementioned Berchelt took an interim fight earlier in the summer – one that was described as “a milkrun” by many the boxing community.

Oscar Valdez is certainly not stepping in there with just some warm body though. This is conversely a much more solid interim matchup to take. The matchmaking parity is there, which hasn’t been the case for every event during Top Rank’s COVID-19 comeback.

Jayson Velez is Capable Underdog

Velez is ultimately the physically larger athlete here and he has shown durability with some of the heavier sluggers in his weight class. He had the option of fighting Chris Colbert for the interim WBA super featherweight championship. The only caveat, though, was that Velez would have to wait until the fall. The opportunity to compete sooner and in a main event capacity opposite Valdez ultimately proved more enticing.

Both men are clearly taking this fight seriously as evidenced by their hard training ahead of this one.

El mexicano, Oscar Valdez se prepara para enfrentar a Jayson Vélez 🥊🇲🇽

📹 @CANELOTEAMhttps://t.co/uJhxx3qNGl pic.twitter.com/lxucLoBlRb

— World Boxing Council en Español (@wbcboxeo) July 13, 2020

Valdez is an aesthetically pleasing fighter but sometimes to his own detriment. His slugger proclivities can sometimes put him in situations where he is vulnerable and gets cracked. Also while he does have that word champion pedigree, Valdez also has had some struggles with opposition that were thought to be of a lower quality. Even though he beat Adam Lopez via TKO, Valdez still went through a lot more difficulties in securing the win. Certainly more effort was required than many pundits theorized going in.

Oscar Valdez vs Jayson Velez Tale of the Tape

Velez is excited for an action-packed fight against an opponent who has more name value that the previously mentioned Colbert. He’s shown his durability through never being stopped across his six total career defeats. I think this changes in a few day’s time. I see the former stopping the latter inside of six rounds when Valdez vs Velez goes down.

Pick: Oscar Valdez (-2000)

Main Card Picks for Valdez vs Velez

1. Genc Pllana vs Raphael Igbokwe: This bout is a rematch with Igbokwe winning the initial contest. Almost a year after the first bout, it will be interesting to see what adjustments each pugilist will make. I think there’s great underdog money here for Igbokwe. He has already defeated Pllana and I think he does it again.  Pick: Raphael Igbokwe (+170)
2. Edgar Berlanga vs Eric Moon: This co-main event feature could deliver a big highlight reel KO. Berlanga has stopped all of his 13 opponents in the first round. I think he continues his flawless knockout rate. Curiously as the moon goes up, Moon will go down Tuesday night.  Pick: Edgar Berlanga (-5000)