A lengthy layoff heading into a fight of this magnitude wasn’t a dealbreaker for Oscar Valdez.

It was an undesirable scenario that he was able to avoid.

The former two-division titlist was prepared to face Emanuel Navarrete after a ten-month ring absence before a pre-existing injury forced him to withdraw from their scheduled February 3 meeting. The date they will now occupy this weekend was floated, which would have meant a sixteen-month inactive period.

Valdez was instead afforded the opportunity to return this past May 20 in a repeat win over Adam ‘BluNose’ Lopez. Ironically, he now enjoys the quickest turnaround in nearly eight years after he endured the longest layoff of his eleven-year career.

“It was great to get that fight in May,” Valdez told BoxingScene.com. “I had back-to-back camps where I had to pull out of a fight due to rib injury. It got to the point where I was questioning, ‘Why is this happening to me?’

“So it felt good to get back in there and get that rematch with Adam Lopez. One thing that kills fighters is being inactive in this sport.”

Valdez beat Lopez via unanimous decision to preserve his title challenge versus Navarrete (37-1, 31KOs), a three-division tltlist who will attempt the first defense of his WBO junior lightweight title. Their all-Mexico battle takes place this Saturday on ESPN from Desert Diamond Casino in Glendale, Arizona. The same venue saw Navarrete win the vacant belt in an off-the-canvas, ninth-round knockout of Australia’s Liam Wilson on February 3.

Nogales’ Valdez (31-1, 23KOs) was supposed to face his countryman that night but was limited to a ringside view after pulling out of a second straight planned fight date. He was also supposed to take a stay-busy fight last November, seven months after his lone career defeat to Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10KOs) in their WBC/WBO 130-pound unification bout last April 30 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The win over Lopez—whom Valdez stopped in the seventh round of his November 2019 junior lightweight debut—ended a career-long 13-month ring break. Just twelve weeks later, the two-time Mexican Olympian and former WBO featherweight and WBC junior lightweight titlist feels rejuvenated ahead of his bid to become a three-time champ.

“Being in the ring is the best feeling in the world for me,” stated Valdez. “I was meant to fight. It felt so good being in front of the fans and winning. The win itself (over Lopez) wasn’t really what I celebrated that night; it was just about getting back in there and back on a path to win these world title fights.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox