Top Rank has officially unveiled (most of) the undercard for their August 12th Emanuel Navarrete vs Oscar Valdez show in Glendale.
The three-fight ESPN broadcast features Navarrete vs Valdez, “a to-be-announced co-feature,” and the return of Tokyo silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr (5-0, 5 KO) against Willie Jake Jr (11-3-2, 3 KO). The two were supposed to fight in March before Torrez “tore his oblique” and, frankly, Top Rank should have used the opportunity to find a better opponent. Jake is 40 years old and got knocked out by Jermaine Franklin, Frank Sanchez, and Stephan Shaw in his only noteworthy bouts
Torrez is young and early in his career, but with his pedigree, he’s not served by annihilating no-hopers in two rounds.
Speaking of underwhelming competition, fellow Olympian Lindolfo Delgado (17-0, 13 KO) leads the ESPN+ prelims against Jair Valtierra (16-2, 8 KO). Delgado overpowered a strong prospect in Omar Aguilar in an under-the-radar banger last year, but has been treading water since, a trend that continues against BoxRec’s no. 193 lightweight.
Also of note is the latest from Emiliano Vargas (5-0, 4 KO), the most promising of Fernando Vargas’ fighting brood, againts TBA. Sergio Rodriguez (7-0-1, 6 KO), Javier Martinez (8-0-1, 2 KO), Ricardo Ruvalcaba (9-0-1, 8 KO), and Antonio Mireles (7-0, 6 KO) will be in action as well.