Tony Valdez stood in the doorway to his boxing gym, July 24, in Española and tried to explain his plan for retirement.
“I want to do a farewell fight,” he said. Valdez added that he wanted to officially retire from boxing with a bang, instead of flaggingly retiring from the sport after a couple of years away from the professional ring. He does not want an uneventful press release to be his final send off from the boxing world.
His wife, Christy Valdez, shook her head disapprovingly beside him. She has stood by her husband’s side through his entire boxing career, and she felt that after 16 years in the professional circuit, it is time for her husband to hang his gloves up for good.
The pair now have an eight-year-old son, and Tony Valdez wants to make sure that he is able to be there for all of the moments of his son’s childhood before he grows to be too old.
Nonetheless, Tony Valdez felt a sense of unfinished business hanging over his head, but the hard part was convincing his wife that he needed to fight once more.
Ultimately he was able to convince Christy Valdez that the hours of training leading up to the final fight would be worth it. He has not fought since December 2016, a match where he was knocked out by Augustine Banegas, of Las Cruces, at Camel Rock Casino.
Tony Valdez does not have a date yet, nor does he have an opponent or location, but he said fans should expect an entertaining and exciting brawl.
His record now stands at eight wins, six losses and six draws. So, whether his last fight is a win or a loss, he will finish his career with a winning record.
Throughout his career, as one of the mainstays in the New Mexico boxing world, Tony Valdez has been able to recount experiences such as being on Showtime, as he was in Fidel Maldonado’s corner when Maldonado fought Amir Imam in 2015 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
He was also able to travel to Cancún, Mexico with Maldonado. Additionally, Tony Valdez’s boxing adventures brought him to meet some of the most famous boxers in the world, such as Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather.
The climax of Tony Valdez’s boxing career came in 2013, as he fought for the vacant World Boxing Council United States Super-Flyweight title. He lost that match to San Antonio’s Felipe Castaneda, who further gave the title to Oscar Cantu of Kingsville, Texas.
Throughout the whole of his career, Tony Valdez has been proud of his hometown, Española.
“The people here are amazing,” he said.
He said he can always count on his Española fans to support him in the ring, and back him with any of his career moves.
Nowadays, Tony Valdez spends his time at his boxing gym for the community on Santa Clara Bridge Road directly adjacent to La Cocina restaurant. A friend of his, Diego Maestas, owns Diego 11 Investments, supplied the financial backdrop for Tony Valdez to start a boxing gym.
Until Tony Valdez is done with his final fight, he will have a busy schedule. During the day, he is a teamster with the Los Alamos National Laboratory wastewater, driving a semi-truck all day. After work, he heads to his boxing gym to train his 15 or so regular students, before finally taking a break to train himself.