Jose Valenzuela: Corrales Can Make Anyone Look Bad If You Don’t Come Correct

Boxing Scene

Jose Valenzuela sought any next challenge that would further his career beyond the rising prospect tag.

The hope was to land an unbeaten fighter or a top lightweight contender. When neither could be delivered, he settled for an offered crossroads bout with Jezreel Corrales, a serviceable former titlist that should provide more resistance than his last outing.

“I’m extremely happy and excited. Mainly because Corrales is a tricky fighter and a hard opponent,” Valenzuela said of the challenge in an interview with The PBC Podcast co-hosts Kenneth Bouhairie and Michael Rosenthal. “To see my promotional company really believe in me and have me fight that opponent is a good feeling.

“He’s a good fighter that can make anyone look bad if you don’t come correct.”

The bout with Panama’s Corrales (26-4, 10KOs) serves as part of a four-fight Fox Sports Pay-Per-View event on September 4 from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The show is headlined by a heavyweight clash between former unified titlist Andy Ruiz (34-2, 22KOs) and two-time title challenger Luis Ortiz (33-2, 28KOs).

Valenzuela (12-0, 8KOs) enjoyed a similar placement in his last outing. The blue-chip talent from Los Mochis, Mexico—who now lives and trains in Seattle—is coming off a first-round knockout of former WBC junior lightweight titlist Francisco Vargas on an April 16 Showtime PPV event topped by Errol Spence’s tenth-round stoppage of Yordenis Ugas to unify the WBA/WBC/IBF welterweight titles.

The fight was intended to represent a step up in competition for the 23-year-old lightweight. All that ‘El Rayo’ got out of the night was a notable name on his resume, blasting out the badly faded Vargas in just 85 seconds. A stiffer challenge is expected from Corrales, who has only been stopped once in 30 pro fights and brings a three-fight in streak into the ring for their scheduled 10-round bout.

“I had a great camp, I was extremely prepared. I knew I would hurt him when I hit him,” noted Valenzuela, a longtime training stablemate of unbeaten former two-time super middleweight titlist David Benavidez (26-0, 23KOs). “I didn’t know how fast or late it would come, but it came early. [Statement made] that I’m for real and I’m here to make a lot of noise.

“I’m ready to come [September] 4 and put on a great show.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

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