As featherweight world titlist Oscar Valdez was being put into an ambulance following his unanimous decision victory in a hellacious slugfest with Scott Quigg on March 10 in Carson, California, he smiled and offered thumbs up despite the agony he was in.
Valdez had suffered a badly broken jaw in the fifth round against Quigg, who had failed to make weight and was much bigger on fight night. By rule, the California commission fined Quigg 20 percent of his official $100,000 purse with half going to Valdez and the other half going to the commission.
Valdez paid a heavy physical toll, but nearly a year later he is good to go. He is anxious to return and ready to make his fifth title defense when he takes on Carmine Tommasone on Saturday night on the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card at the Ford Center at the Star -- the training facility of the Dallas Cowboys -- in Frisco, Texas.
"I am very excited to step into the ring again," Valdez told ESPN this week. "I had 11 months off due to my jaw, but my jaw is 100 percent healed. Even though we've been working a lot on our defense you still get hit in training. I got hit on the jaw, so I know it's 100 percent healed. I am ready mentally and physically for this fight.
"To be very honest, it hasn't been on my mind. My jaw is only on my mind when somebody asks me the question, 'How's your jaw?' When I first got hit in the jaw in training I went back to the corner and they asked, 'How's the jaw?' I wasn't thinking about it. I know I'm 100 percent ready. I'm very focused. I know the job we did in the gym. Can't complain about the training camp. I won't be thinking about the jaw injury. The doctor said it's 100 percent healed and we're not planning on getting hit too much and we've been working on defense."
After the jaw was broken, Valdez spit blood and also swallowed some for the remainder of the fight. It was so painful, his then-trainer Manny Robles stopped taking out his mouthpiece between rounds so as not jostle his jaw. Valdez wound up winning 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111.
Valdez (24-0, 19 KOs), 28, a two-time Mexican Olympian, had his jaw was wired shut for two months and subsisted on a liquid diet.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, with more than 50 years in boxing, has seen his share of fighters suffer serious injuries and return with no issues, which is what he believes will be the case with Valdez when he faces Italy's Tommasone (19-0, 5 KOs), 34. Tommasone was one of three professional boxers to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics, although he will be fighting professionally outside of his home country for the first time since turning pro in 2010.
Arum pointed to one very famous fighter who also suffered a broken jaw and came back strong. In 1973, Arum promoted the first of Muhammad Ali's three fights with Ken Norton in San Diego, during which Ali had his jaw broken in a 12-round split decision loss.
"The layoff is the longest I ever had but it wasn't the worst thing for me. I took a great break. It was nice. It made me focus on what I want to do and boxing is what I want to do. I love doing what I'm doing but I've got to improve on my defensive skills to make my career last longer." Oscar Valdez
"When I look back, Ali didn't miss a beat from getting the broken jaw and fighting on," Arum said, noting that Ali returned just six months later to defeat Norton by split decision in a rematch. "I think the same will be true of Valdez. Yes, he lost time -- 11 months -- and an athlete's career is relatively short. But other than that I don't think it will have any effect at all on Oscar."
Arum said he was quite impressed with the heart Valdez displayed in the face of the jaw injury.
"He looked to me like all these great Mexican fighters -- Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel (Marquez), guys like that who left everything in the ring," he said. "That fight with Quigg, who was so much bigger, was not an easy fight for Oscar. But he loves to fight. He was born to fight."
During his time away from the ring, Valdez, his father Oscar Valdez Sr. and manager Frank Espinoza decided to make a change in the corner because they felt that he needed a better defensive foundation than Robles could offer.
Besides the rough fight with Quigg, Valdez's defensive holes were evident in the two brutal defenses that preceded it against Genesis Servania and Miguel Marriaga.
They hired top Mexican trainer Eddy Reynoso, who is best known for his work with unified middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez.
"Me and my new trainer, Eddy Reynoso, talked about this -- just because you can be a fighter with good defense doesn't mean you're a boring fighter," Valdez said. "Look at Juan Manuel Marquez. He put up a lot of good fights but he also had good defense and was a good counterpuncher. I'm trying to still be aggressive but also cautious and doing everything possible not to get hit. I want to still be exciting but not too exciting so I can take care of my health."
That is what Reynoso has been preaching to him in the gym during the few months they have been working together. But Valdez admits that with only one training camp together, the change is not necessarily going to be instant.
Once he is in the crucible of the fight and the punches are landing and the crowd is roaring, he said he just might revert to his natural instinct to bang it out if need be.
"I could see that happening once I'm in fight mode and get hit with a couple of shots and the crowd screaming," Valdez said. "My father yells at me and reminds me to stay focused and do what I have to do to win and not to get too carried away and excited. Eddy talks to me about being aggressive but always thinking. I will do my best to come out victorious and put up a good fight. I will listen to my corner -- Eddy and my father."
He said making the trainer change was not easy because he likes and respects Robles, with whom he said he still has a "great relationship."
"Manny helped me become a world champion. I'm still close with Manny. We talk and text. We wish each other the best," Valdez said. "We're great friends. We will always be. I'm very grateful for him and glad we are still great friends, but the decision was made and we chose Eddy because we needed an improvement. I can see improvements from this camp. It's been repetition on our defense.
"The layoff is the longest I ever had but it wasn't the worst thing for me. I took a great break. It was nice. It made me focus on what I want to do and boxing is what I want to do. I love doing what I'm doing but I've got to improve on my defensive skills to make my career last longer."