Bout held at the Jai-Alai Fronton in Miami Beach, Florida.
On the undercard of the Wilfred Benitez vs. Johnny Turner 'Light-Middleweight' bout.
The 24 year, 5 month old - Aaron Pryor would receive his largest fight purse of his career up to
that point, which was $10,000.
28 year-old -Julio Valdez {Dominican Republic} was a crafty boxer/counter-puncher, who had
excellent defensive skills, and who was much better than his 17-8-1 record.
"El Diabilto' had gone 15-1-1 in his last '17-Bouts', dating back to July 1974, which included
early career wins over quality opponents; Tony Tris, Eduardo Santiago and Adriano Marrero.
In 1978, Julio scored impressive Decision wins over World-Ranked; Franciso Villegas and
Marcos Barahona, and in {October 1978} he scored a 'major upset' over the former
WBA Super Featherweight Champion - Alfredo Escalera.
Those wins got Julio Valdez a Championship Bout against WBA Super Featherweight Champion -
Samuel Serrano in February 1979. Though 'El Diablito' lost a somewhat one-sided Decision,
he went the distance in a game effort against a difficult and tricky Champion.
In May 1979, at Madison Square Garden, 'El Diablito' won an impressive 10-Round Decision
over the #10 WBA Lightweight - Canadian 'Knockout Artist' Ralph Racine.
That win, bumped Julio Valdez up to the #4 WBA Lightweight. But, since that victory, Valdez had
been inactive for 10-Months.
