Jose Valenzuela vs Edwin De Los Santos

Jose Valenzuela vs Edwin De Los Santos II is unfinished business with teeth. De Los Santos already did the job once, stepping in on short notice in 2022 and stopping Valenzuela in three after both men had touched down in the second. Now they meet again at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, with De Los Santos coming in 17-2 with 15 knockouts and Valenzuela 15-3 with 9 stoppages. This one has proper tear-up written all over it.

Both are southpaws, both can punch, and they know one another well. Valenzuela is the taller man at around 5ft 10in, loose, rangy, and dangerous when he is allowed to get his long shots off. De Los Santos is a touch shorter, but he has that nasty snap in his punches, the sort of power that does not need a perfect wind-up to put a man on his backside. Valenzuela has been in bigger-name fights since their first meeting, including wins over Chris Colbert and Isaac Cruz, but De Los Santos will walk in knowing he has already cracked the code once.

The nuts and bolts for Valenzuela are discipline and distance. He cannot go marching in with his chin in the air, trying to prove he is harder than the first fight showed. He needs the jab, the long left hand, little pivots, and no square-on exchanges just for the crowd. De Los Santos, on the other hand, must not wait for one bomb. His advantage is the sudden counter, especially when Valenzuela gets brave after landing. If he can make Rayo reach, then fire straight through the middle, he can have him on the whiskers again.

‘Rayo’ has grown as a fighter since the first meeting, whilst De Los Santos has become reliant on his power. I fancy Valenzuela to get revenge by winning a disciplined points decision.