Former super lightweight champion Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela will headline a February 1st Zuffa Boxing show against Diego Torres on Paramount+.
Valenzuela (14-3, 9 KO) is 2-3 in his last five, but it’s worse on paper than in reality. After losing a two-round shootout with Edwin De Los Santos in 2022, he dropped a hugely controversial decision to Chris Colbert the following March, only to destroy “Primetime” in their rematch nine months later. A move to 140 saw him frustrate and outbox “Pitbull” Cruz to claim the WBA title, then lose wide to Gary Antuanne Russell.
I’ve seen conflicting reports as to whether this will be at 135 or a catchweight.
Torres (22-1, 19 KO) spent the first four years of his pro career racking up wins in his native Mexico, but lost comprehensively to Raymond Muratalla in his first step up. While he’s since returned to his status quo, he represents a reasonably tough challenge at a weird point in Valenzuela’s career.
Per Dan Rafael, the show will also see super welterweight contender Serhii Bohachuk (26-3, 24 KO) look to bounce back from his second loss to Brandon Adams against former welterweight title challenger Radzhab Butaev (16-1, 12 KO) and former unified light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (21-2, 17 KO) continue down the comeback trail against longtime tripping hazard Radivoje Kalajdzic (29-3, 21 KO).
Assuming you’re not tapped out from the approximately 30 events the day prior, not a bad way to spend a Sunday.
