By Ryan Burton

On September 17th unbeaten super bantamweight prospect Diego De La Hoya (15-0) will take a step up in class against rugged contender Orlandito Del Valle (22-2) of Puerto Rico.  The fight will be part of the Canelo Alvarez-Liam Smith pay-per-view undercard that takes place in Arlington, Texas at Cowboys Stadium.

The 22-year-old De La Hoya knows that a win will lead to even bigger opportunities but insists that he is focused on the task at hand.

"I have been training very intensely for this fight. I feel no pressure and I plan on delivering a great fight for the fans. That is all that matters," said De La Hoya.

In his last fight, De La Hoya stopped the then undefeated Rocco Santomauro in 7 rounds in Las Vegas on the Canelo-Amir Khan undercard.  He feels that this is the next step up in his progression from being a prospect to becoming a contender.

He believes that his dominant victory inspired his team to increase his competition level.

"My promoter Golden Boy and my manager Joel De La Hoya have a lot of confidence in me and have given me difficult fights because I have showed my quality in the ring," De La Hoya explained.

There is a lot of pressure sharing his last name with his famous cousin and promoter Oscar.  While there certainly are benefits with being related to the former six-time world champion, Diego said that his cousin told him that his name can only take him so far and that he will have to work hard to get to where he wants to be.

"The last time I spoke with Oscar - I was very excited with the potential to be on the pay-per-view and it was something he promised me. (When we talked) he said to just give it my all and that just having the last name isn't everything and that I have the ability to go with it," Diego told BoxingScene.com.

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