Óscar Rafael Valdez Fierro vs. Carmine Tommasone

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Apparently this is part of the upcoming world championship triple-header on ESPN, with Eléider Álvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev II atop the bill, a week from Saturday. WBO featherweight title at stake, 5th defense of Valdez. Tommasone is ranked #14 in the world at featherweight by the WBO*. The challenger has a ½″ 'advantage' in height, and is half a dozen years the champion's elder.

Someone's zero has got to go. Gee, which of them could it be? Who could possibly say?


* (this despite having never fought outside his native Italy, and having never fought anybody - so high as forty?? - world ranked. His biggest achievement was claiming the vacant Euro belt against Scottish feather-fist Jonathan Slowey in 2015, since which Tommasone has fought a grand total of four times, against opposition with a combined 50-40-4 record...)

 

Tommasone vs. 19-3 (0!!!) Jonathan Slowey:

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I'll say this: at least Tommasone was a halfway respectful amateur, competing under the Italian banner in the lightweight division at the Olympics in Rio. He actually shut out Lindolfo Delgado (currently a very high-upside Mexican prospect in the pros) in the first round. He was himself shut out subsequently, however, by eventual bronze medalist Lázaro Álvarez of Cuba.

...besides, Valdez, himself being a 2x Olympian, is probably not all that intimidated by any of Tommasone's amateur credentials.

 

Really? I've been pretty happy with it up through now, ever since Gradovich. The win over Rueda has aged well, considering his body of work since. Ogawa was an okay scalp, followed by very good ones in Marriaga, Servania, then Quigg.

This is a giant step backwards from all of that.

 

Yeah but come fight night it will have been 11 months since then, and he was medically cleared to continue fighting as far back as September.

Plus...look at Tommasone. Either his record, or footage of him. The guy couldn't outslug nor maintain the respect of a shrinking violet like Slowey (who in 21 professional contests has never stopped a soul) ...and was dropped & struggled to a MD over feather-fisted countryman Mario Pisanti for the vacant Italian national featherweight title in 2014.

I think Valdez is gonna be okay here.

 

Narrowest odds you can find on Tommasone are 18/1.

 

Agree with the latter statement, not sure about the former..