On the plus side he has about 60 fights, and loses only 8....two to Monzon. He beats Bennie Briscoe 3 times, but as much as I like Bennie, Briscoe can be very erratic himself if you look closely at his record. Valdez' style must have been really bad for Briscoe. Valdez also beat Gratien Tonna another MW Challenger, and a decent fighter in Vinnie Curto. On the negative side, he didn't tangle with rest of the Philly MW's that I can see. He lost twice to Hugo Curro at the end of his career. The rest of the 48 fighters he beat I really know nothing about.
Keep in mind that Valdez was just as much battle worn as Monzon was when they fought and the Hugo C. fights were clearly past his prime. He turned pro in 1962 at age 16 so he was in his 15th professional year of fighting when he stepped in against Carlos. Would have liked to have seen him fighting in the U.S. in the late 60's; maybe someone else can offer some detail as it did seem to take him an inordinate amount of time to reach the top. I think he was one bad dude and a top contender or champion and a tough out in any era. My $0.02
I always felt he was actually underrated on ESB rather then overrated you rarely see people talking about him.
He's not overrated per se, but i don't think he would have necessarily dominated the division in Monzon's abscence like some do.
I think Gil Clancy had both Emile Griffith & Valdez at one time. Wonder what it was like when they sparred?
A sweet sweet fighter -- such fluid, machine-gun combinations. Really let his hands go, and he could bang with both of them. When he sparred, every eye in the gym was on him. Fighters are labeled good, very good, and helluva fighter. Valdez was the latter.
You often stated you just comment on fighter you saw either in the gym or live so i think that´s the case here too. So, do you have some not so well known stories or insights on him? Would be very appreciated.
It's actually hard to overate Valdez; he was what he was - an outstanding contender and dangerous champion. His fights with Briscoe and Monzon were well contested bouts against tough opponents, fought with a lot of passion. His punching prowess, neatly tucked-in high-guard and smooth lateral dips are there to admire on film. He was quite a unique fighter and would, at the least, be game to give all the greats some overtime in the ring.
Hell no he's not overrated. Anyone who says he was overrated either wasn't a boxing fan oir didn't see him on tv, or just dosen't remember. I remember seeing him destroy a Frenchman named Max Cohen in Paris. This was just before meeting Carlos Monzon for the first time. It wasn't that Cohen was anything special, but it was about how complete a fighter Valdez looked and was in that fight. It was a couple of years after he so impressively ko'ed Bennie Briscoe, and Valdez looked for all the world like the complete fighter. He was cat-fast and sharp as hell as he destroyed the Frenchman like a fighter of his stature was supposed to look when dispatching an opponent, no matter what his rank. Valdez, if not for Monzon, would have reigned supreme as middleweight champ, but Monzon ruined him, whether it was psychological or whatever, and after Monzon retired, and Valdez won the vacant title from Briscoe, old age started to creep in, and that made him a, easy mark for the defensive, clever Corro. The destuction of Briscoe in '74 was highly impressive. Bennie was never treated like that before in his career.
