Narciso Valenzuela: WBO Challenge and Notable Fights
Narciso Valenzuela Romo was a Mexican professional boxer whose career included a WBO super-featherweight title challenge against Regilio Tuur and bouts with Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley and Jorge Páez. He was born on October 18, 1965. His recorded professional career began in September 1984 and continued through October 1998.
Career and championship record
Valenzuela’s schedule included frequent appearances in Tijuana as well as assignments in the United States, Europe and South Africa. His record lists 40 wins, 25 losses and two draws across 67 contests. He competed against regional contenders and established international opponents during the 1980s and 1990s.
On October 30, 1993, he faced De La Hoya at America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. The fight was scheduled for ten rounds but ended in the first. Valenzuela knocked De La Hoya down before being dropped twice himself. De La Hoya won by knockout at 2:25, bringing their brief contest to an early conclusion.
Valenzuela subsequently lost a decision to Carlos Hernandez in April 1994. On July 24 that year, Shane Mosley defeated him by fifth-round technical knockout at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The Mosley contest followed the De La Hoya loss by less than a year.
His world-title opportunity came against Tuur on April 1, 1996, at Sporthal Maaspoort in Den Bosch, Netherlands. Tuur retained the WBO junior-lightweight championship by unanimous decision over twelve rounds. Two judges scored every round for Tuur at 120–108, while the third returned a 120–109 card.
That championship contest took place at the super-featherweight limit of 130 pounds. It was separate from Valenzuela’s earlier non-title meeting with De La Hoya, for which both fighters had weighed above that limit. The distinction identifies which of those prominent appearances was a world-title challenge.
Valenzuela later lost to Páez in Stateline, Nevada, in August 1996. His remaining recorded opponents included Hector Lizarraga, Welcome Ncita, Hector Lopez and Thomas Damgaard. The Damgaard contest in Aalborg, Denmark, in October 1998 is his final listed professional appearance.
Sources
Additional sources: https://boxerlist.com/boxer/narciso-valenzuela-romo/3193; https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Oscar_De_La_Hoya_vs._Narciso_Valenzuela; https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Regilio_Tuur_vs._Narciso_Valenzuela; https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-25-sp-19689-story.html
Additional sources: https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Narciso_Valenzuela; https://boxerlist.com/en/boxer/narciso-valenzuela-romo/3193
Related reading: boxing · Oscar De La Hoya · fighters
