Featherweight world titleholder Oscar Valdez, still sidelined by a broken jaw, will have a different look in his corner when he returns either at the end of this year or in early 2019.
Valdez said Monday that he has made a trainer change, firing Manny Robles in favor of Eddy Reynoso, who is best known as the trainer for superstar Canelo Alvarez.
"I want to thank Manny Robles and his whole team for everything they have done for me over the last few years, but like everything in life, changes are sometimes needed to move forward, Valdez said. "I'm very grateful to them for their friendship and all they have taught me."
Frank Espinoza, Valdez's career-long manager, echoed his fighter's sentiments.
"We are very grateful for everything that Manny Robles and his team did for Oscar, but as we move forward to bigger challenges in Oscar's career, we felt as a team that Eddy Reynoso is better suited for what is ahead," Espinoza said.
Valdez (24-0, 19 KOs), 27, a two-time Mexican Olympian, won a vacant 126-pound world title in 2016 and has made four defenses, including his past three in a row, which were all-out brawls in which Valdez took many heavy punches. Reynoso's first task is to get Valdez to tighten up his defense.
"This is a challenge for me because Oscar Valdez is a great fighter, and one of my goals is to work on what's necessary to make him a complete fighter," Reynoso said. "I think Oscar will bring out the best of me as a trainer, while I will bring the best out of him as a world champion and as a representative of Mexico."
In Valdez's most recent fight, he won a unanimous decision over former junior featherweight world titlist Scott Quigg, of England, on March 10 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Valdez suffered a badly broken jaw during the fifth round of a hellacious fight of the year candidate, but he persevered to win a unanimous decision via scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111. Quigg had failed to make weight for the fight and was much bigger than Valdez on fight night.
After the fight, Valdez's jaw was wired shut for two months. He likely won't fight again until at least December but more likely not until early 2019.
"As a boxer you have to [be] able to develop as much as you can, and I believe that this change to Eddy Reynoso will help me become an even better all-around boxer and fighter," Valdez said. "I want to be one of the best fighters in the world and leave the best legacy that I can in boxing, and I will always work hard to achieve the greatness that I seek."