Valdez and Stevenson are close to signing a deal for the April 30 fight

Representatives Oscar Valdez and Shakur Stevenson have almost completed a deal for a featherweight title unification bout scheduled for April 30 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, broadcast on ESPN. Valdez holds the WBC title, while Stevenson is the WBO champion.

Bob Arum, whose Top Rank company promotes Stevenson and Valdez, insisted that Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) fight WBO featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete (35-1, 29 KOs) in his next fight. Stevenson publicly criticized Arum for not wanting him to fight Valdez next.