Liam Wilson Ready to Take on Oscar Valdez at Glendale Arena
As the countdown to the highly anticipated fight between Liam Wilson and Oscar Valdez at the Glendale Arena draws closer, Wilson is feeling confident and ready to take on the challenge. The Australian boxer has been to Glendale before, having fought a top Mexican opponent, and he believes that experience will give him an edge in this upcoming match.
Wilson’s last fight at the Desert Diamond Arena was a thrilling one against Emanuel Navarrete, which he unfortunately lost. But now, he is back at the same venue, determined to come out on top against Valdez.
Both Wilson and Valdez have faced Navarrete in the past, making him a common measuring stick for their skills. While Navarrete defeated Valdez in their fight, Wilson put up a tough fight before ultimately being stopped in the ninth round. Wilson has been training hard at the Split T Boxing Club in Las Vegas and has nothing but respect for his upcoming opponent.
“He’s good. He’s very good,” Wilson said of Valdez. “He’s been at the top of his game for many years. I still consider him at the top of his game, he’s coming off two defeats against two of the best fighters on the planet at the moment in Shakur Stevenson and Emanuel Navarrete, and there’s no shame in losing to them. I was [in against] one of them, too, losing to Navarrete, so I know what he faced and it makes for an exciting match-up, comparing how I went with Navarrete and how he did.”
While Valdez may be coming off two losses, Wilson doesn’t see him as a declining fighter. He believes that timing is an important factor in matchmaking and feels that now is the right time for him to face Valdez.
“I think so,” Wilson said confidently. “It depends on what Oscar shows up as well. But for him to get to the top level of boxing, he’s got more than one dimension of fighting styles, so I’m expecting a war. He can box, he can brawl, I know I can as well. We will just have to see how the fight goes. He’s had hard fights and a big career. He’s 33 now. This is a sport where age doesn’t really do good to anyone, so we will see, but I also know that this is a chance for him to redeem himself, show the boxing world he still has it, that he’s still at the top level. I’m sure he’s looking to prove that.”
Wilson, who currently holds a record of 13-2 (7 KOs), is bubbling with self-confidence and is excited for this opportunity. When asked how good he is as a boxer, Wilson replied, “I’m good. I’m good. I’m getting better and better. I’m 28-years-old, I just turned 28, and I’m in my prime, or coming into it. I’ve got a lot of experience behind me and I’m getting better. I’m excited for this.”
Wilson’s birthday may have just passed a couple of weeks ago, but there were no celebrations in camp. He hopes to celebrate with a victory on Friday night and prove the critics wrong who are predicting a win for Valdez.
“I think they have it wrong,” Wilson stated. “If we go off our last performances against Navarrete, I think I did a better job of instilling more fear, my presence was different in the fight compared to his [Valdez’s], but I know what Navarrete is like to be standing across that ring [from]. He’s very awkward, and I could see Oscar felt that as well, so I think, for me, this is what makes the fight exciting. We’ve both experienced what it’s like to fight him.”
Wilson is one of the key figures in the Australian boom in big-time boxing, with high-level fighters coming out from Down Under en masse. He believes that this is lifting the level of boxing in Australia and paving the way for the younger generation.
“A hundred per cent,” Wilson agreed. “I think with how boxing’s going back in Australia with the top fighters fighting out of the country, putting on good performances, winning world titles… Tim Tsyzu, Jai Opetaia, the Moloney brothers… I think, ultimately, it’s lifting the boxing level as well. People look up to us and it’s sort of paving the way for the younger generation coming through and I think the best is yet to come out of Australian boxing. We have a good platform in Australia now, we didn’t have that a few years ago, so we are very fortunate.”
Wilson hopes to be a positive influence back home and admits that he looked to international fighters for inspiration while growing up. He names Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Micky Ward, Joe Frazier, and Sergey Kovalev as some of his idols.
“It was international fighters for me,” Wilson said. “Boxing was never really big in Australia when I turned professional. My promoter at the moment [Matt Rose at No Limit Boxing] was just starting and it’s taken off since then and I’m proud to be a part of it. But international fighters, [Juan Manuel] Marquez, [Erik] Morales, Micky Ward, Joe Frazier, Sergey Kovalev, I think that was the case for most Australian fighters. We had our idols and people we looked up to and in most cases, they were out of the country.”
Wilson has learned a lot from his 15 pro fights to date, especially from his loss to Navarrete. He believes that this experience has prepared him for this upcoming fight and has made him a better boxer.
“Heaps, man,” he said of the lessons from that loss. “Obviously going into that fight I had 13 pro fights and I was young, I was raw, I was so new to the environment as well, [it was] my first 12-rounder, and the way the training camp is structured, my fitness… I’ve had to work on everything, and it was a big eye opener to my boxing career and where I need to be. And here I am again fighting in another tough fight and that, ultimately, has prepared me for this. I’m young, I’m looking to get better, and I wasn’t going to let a loss at 27-years-old derail me. I knew I had so much more to give, and here I am again, fighting in another tough fight. I knew these fights were going to be on this horizon, so there’s no point dwelling on anything. Get better.”
Now, Wilson is living his dream. He admits that there are sacrifices along the way, being away from his family in Australia while training and fighting in the U.S. But he is determined to make the most of
