Bob Arum doesn’t hold Oscar Valdez’s subpar performance in his 130-pound debut against him.

Valdez’s promoter cut the former WBO featherweight champion some slack because he feels a late switch of opponents threw off Valdez when he fought Adam Lopez on November 30 in Las Vegas. Lopez dropped Valdez with a left hook when there was a minute remaining in the second round, and gave Valdez more trouble overall than his original opponent, Andres Gutierrez, was expected to provide.

Mexico’s Valdez (27-0, 21 KOs) trailed Lopez on one scorecard when he came back to floor Lopez with a right hand just before the midway mark of the seventh round. Lopez (14-2, 6 KOs) got up and continued, but referee Russell Mora stopped the action with just seven seconds remaining in the seventh round, immediately after Valdez blasted Lopez with another right hand that snapped back his head.

The win notwithstanding, that wasn’t what Valdez envisioned for his junior lightweight debut once he gave up his WBO 126-pound championship late last summer.

“I think a lot of it was due to the sudden change of opponents,” Arum told BoxingScene.com while discussing Valdez’s fight against Jayson Velez on Tuesday night. “It was sort of chaotic. He was training with Eddy Reynoso for one opponent, and then they suddenly got another opponent. So, I discount that performance completely.”

Lopez replaced Gutierrez barely on 24 hours’ notice once Mexico’s Gutierrez ridiculously weighed in 11 pounds above the contracted weight of 130 pounds for his fight versus Valdez. Lopez already had weighed in at 126 pounds for an eight-round featherweight fight against Luis Coria on the Valdez-Gutierrez undercard when he agreed to instead battle Valdez at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

The 29-year-old Valdez is heavily favored to overcome Velez, although Velez is coming off a strong performance in his last fight.

Puerto Rico’s Velez knocked down Jaime Arboleda in the 12th round and nearly knocked him out February 8 in a fight Showtime televised from PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Panama’s Arboleda survived, however, and won a split decision (114-113, 114-113, 112-115).

Arum’s matchmakers could’ve chosen a less threatening opponent than Velez, despite the one-sided odds on a 10-round main event ESPN will televise from MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT). The 32-year-old Velez (29-6-1, 21 KOs) has lost two split decisions and a majority decision, and he hasn’t been knocked out in 12 years as a pro.

If Valdez wins, Arum intends to match him against WBC super featherweight champion and countryman Miguel Berchelt (38-1, 34 KOs) in his next fight.

“My guys tell me it’s a very tough fight,” Arum said of Valdez-Velez. “It’s not a gimme. But Berchelt won’t be a gimme, either, so if he’s gonna compete with Berchelt, he’s gotta show something in this fight.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.