By Steve Kim

WBO featherweight champion, Oscar Valdez, defends his crown on September 22nd against Genesis Servania in Tucson, Arizona at the Tucson Arena, which will represent a bit of a homecoming for Valdez, who hails from nearby Sonora, Mexico.

This bout will be broadcast on ESPN as part of Top Rank's new deal with the network.

"I'm very excited, once again, I get the chance to fight in Tucson. The last time I fought there was 2015 and it was great. Hopefully this time I can bring a bigger crowd," said Valdez (22-0, 19 KO's), who also has roots in this city best known for being the home of the University of Arizona.

"A lot of friends and family will be there because I got a lot of friends in Tucson and it's only 45 minutes away from Nogales, my hometown. So it's going to be great knowing it's going to be close for my family to come down. I have family that already lives there," said Valdez, a two-time Mexican Olympian.

Valdez, is coming off a tough twelve round victory over Miguel Marriaga on April 22nd at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

He admitted - "It took me awhile to recover, it was a tough fight. It's one of the reasons why it surprised me that Miguel Marriaga took the fight (versus WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko) on such short notice. I felt it was a tough fight for both of us and it took me some time to recover, a couple week to recover from that.

"Now I'm feeling in great shape because of that recovery."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.