Oscar Valdez Retains WBC Crown With Controversial Win, Blasts Robson Conceição For ‘Running’

Oscar Valdez remains undefeated, but some controversy has stirred with it.

Valdez retained his WBC junior lightweight title in Tucson after beating Robson Conceição via decision, handing his first loss. Conceição has since filed a complaint over the loss.

Conceição began the fight on a good note.

He looked agile and kept on teasing Valdez with sharp jabs that bloodied the opponent’s face, but his speed went away in the middle rounds. That’s when Valdez outboxed him and took control of the fight.

Judges scored the contest 115-112, 115-112 and 117-110 in the 30-year-old’s favor.

🇲🇽 #ANDSTILL 👑@oscarvaldez56 gets stronger as the night goes on in Tucson and retains the WBC strap at 130 lbs, remaining atop the mountain in a loaded division via Unanimous Decision (117-110, 115-112 x2). #ValdezConceicao pic.twitter.com/bfVH35mETs

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) September 11, 2021

Conceição, the 2016 Olympics gold medalist, had a point deducted in the ninth round for hitting behind Valdez’s head.

As for the newly-crowned champion, he couldn’t have expected to end the week on a high after being scrutinized following an “adverse finding” in his drug test.

Valdez was able to hold onto his strap despite his A and B-sample tests testing positive for phentermine, a banned stimulant by VADA.

“I’ve been through enough this week, man. It makes the fight complicated when someone is trying to run the whole fight,” Valdez said in the post-fight interview. “If he wants to run? You can’t win a fight running like that.”