2021 has been a terrific year for two-division world champion Oscar Valdez. Not only did he score what is considered to be the knockout of the year over highly regarded Miguel Berchelt, he also made his childhood dream come true. “I always wanted to be a WBC champion,” he said. “Since I was eight years old I’ve been working for the green belt and I got it. It was a sweet moment.”

Now Valdez is looking to raise his profile even higher by taking on the big names in his weight division.

What’s Valdez’s dream fight? “I don’t really have a dream fight. I used to think about fighting Miguel Berchelt but as of now I’m looking to fight names that will take my career to a higher level.”

Lightweight champion Gervonta Davis is a possible target. “Gervonta is a tremendous fighter who wins in spectacular fashion,” Valdez said. “We’d love to fight him if the opportunity presented itself. He has a great style. He’s aggressive and I think that’s a fight the fans would enjoy. So that would be the closest to a dream fight right now.”

There’s also talk regarding the highly touted Shakur Stevenson. “I’d love to fight Shakur. He’s very talented. He’s an excellent defensive fighter. I’ll fight anyone they put in front of me. I don’t fear anyone. He doesn’t have a title, but if a fight with him makes sense, then I’d love to get in the ring with him.”

A rematch with Berchelt is something he often gets asked about. “I don’t think we would rule it out. But rematches are made when you have close fights and I don’t think the fight was very close. But maybe in the future and if we have a solid offer, we would consider it.”

He’s also interested in a rival from the past: Vassily Lomachenko. Valdez fought Lomachenko as an amateur and has a lot of respect for the former world champion. “Even though he’s coming off a loss to Teofimo Lopez, I think he’s still one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world in my opinion. If there was an opportunity to face him, I’d be very happy to face him. It would be an excellent match.”

According to his manager, Frank Espinoza, Valdez has what it takes to defeat any of the top dogs hovering around the division. “We haven’t decided what’s next for Oscar but we’re open to several different scenarios. Oscar wants to beat the best so he can be considered the best. There are a lot of exciting fighters out there,” Espinoza stated. “Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson, Jojo Diaz and Jameel Herring are great fights for Oscar. And yes we would consider a rematch with Miguel Berchelt but this is a business and the business side of it has to make sense.”

For now, Valdez keeps training in between preparing for the day he gets the call. “I’m keeping myself ready. As soon as they call me to go to training camp with Eddie Reynoso I’m ready to go.”

Training with high-level trainer Eddie Reynoso has made quite an incredible difference in his career.  He recognizes the mastery that Reynoso brings to the table. “He’s always studying boxing and always watching boxing. Boxing is his life. He’s a real master of the sport. He lives in the gym pretty much. He’s obsessed with the sport.”

Reynoso is the hottest trainer in the sport and has amassed quite a camp with some of today’s top fighters. Valdez stated, “Training with fighters like Canelo Alvarez, Ryan Garcia and Andy Ruiz is real motivating. We help each other and we talk quite a bit. We’re like a family. It’s a really great atmosphere that really elevates your confidence. A lot of great vibes from these guys.”

Valdez had a chance to spar Canelo Alvarez during his last camp. “I did sparring with Canelo and I learned so much. It was a great experience to get in the ring with him. He’s extremely slick and very hard to hit. I take my hat off to him. He has great talent. Being around fighters like him is inspiring and motivating.”

Valdez only wants the best fights against the best opponents. “I don’t want to get older and say: I should’ve fought him in my prime. I should’ve fought that other one. That’s why we took the fight against Berchelt. This is the guy that nobody wanted to fight. We raised our hand and we said ‘yeah we’ll fight him.’ We took the risk and we won the fight. Those are the kind of fights I want in the future. I’m 30 years old, I’m in my prime and I’m ready for the best.”