By Yuri Tarantin

Former world featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich (21-1-1, 9KO) is preparing for the fight of his life.

On April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Gradovich will face up and coming Mexican fighter Oscar Valdez (18-0, 16KOs).

Their fight will be part of the HBO Pay-Per-View undercard which features Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley in the main event.

The fight is very important in the career of Gradovich, who has not looked his best in his last few fights. He went to a twelve round draw with Jayson Velez in November of 2014, and then lost his title to Lee Selby in May of 2015.

He would go on to pick up two victories, but they weren't his best performances as he won an eight round split decision over fringe contender Aldimar Santos last October and then this past January he won a close ten round majority decision over another fringe contender Jesus Galicia.

Gradovich understands the scenario, with being a big underdog against a fighter who is being groomed as a future star. Valdez has been tearing through many of his opponents with dominating performances, including last year's knockout wins over Jose Ramirez and Chris Avalos.

"I believe that it will be necessary to fight for the entire contest. And I think, not only against him, [but certainly in this situation] because he is considered to be the favorite here. So I'm preparing for this very seriously. In general, I working hard as I always do, but I understand that I need to be prepared even better," Gradovich said.

Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru