Southland boxer Oscar Valdez has Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley card to shine

Oscar Valdez was asked this week where he’d rank himself in a list of the top 10 boxers under age 30 from Southern California.

He mentioned featherweight world champion Leo Santa Cruz and South El Monte’s 2012 Olympian Joseph Diaz, then surmised, “But I’m up there....”

Valdez (18-0, 16 knockouts), 25, could enhance his standing April 9 when the Lake Elsinore-based, Carson-trained fighter meets Russian Evgeny Gradovich (21-1-1, nine KOs) in a 10-round featherweight bout.

The fight, on the HBO pay-per-view undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley main event at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will test Valdez, a two-time Mexican Olympian, against a former featherweight title challenger.

“I feel like I’m improving a lot. This is going to be a big step for me,” Valdez said. “I’ve dedicated a lot of time to my sport, I left Mexico for this. His style is perfect for me. Fan-pleasing, aggressive fighter who likes to come forward.”

The Oxnard-trained Gradovich, nicknamed “The Mexican Russian” because of his brawling fighting style, lost a technical decision to Lee Selby last year in England.

“I’ve prepared very hard, you’ll see … I love boxing. That’s why I came here,” Gradovich said. “The Mexican people gave me my nickname. You’ll see it’s true, I’m like an old-school Mexican, like Chavez, Sanchez, Barrera, Morales, Marquez.”

In his last two fights, Valdez scored a fifth-round TKO of Chris Avalos on Sept. 11 in a main event at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas and defeated Ernie Sanchez with a third-round knockout in Tucson in December.

Valdez showed a sophisticated style, with elusive head movements and precise positioning to land power punches, developed while fighting as an amateur.

“I’m going in there in shape to go all 10 rounds, and I’ll beat him to the punch in all 10 rounds,” Valdez said. “I might have to brawl it out. I’ll fight. I can switch it up. My amateur background allows me to adapt to whatever.... I feel it’s time for me to show I’m capable of fighting big names and ready to fight for a world title.”

Valdez’s promoter, Bob Arum, said the pay-per-view showcase could launch his fighter toward possibly replacing Vasyl Lomachenko as World Boxing Organization featherweight champion should Lomachenko opt to move up in weight.

“He has to win and win impressively,” Arum said. “Prospects — some make it, some don’t — but [Valdez] is a good bet, better than most. He’s skilled.”

Twitter: @latimespugmire

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