Eddy Reynoso has presided over Canelo Alvarez’s career as the pupil’s lifelong coach and helped mold the Mexican fighter into the boxing superstar that he’s become today.

If you ask the 44-year-old trainer what his proudest performance is as a professional, Reynoso will point to a fighter he’s only coached since 2018 in Oscar Valdez, the newly crowned WBC junior lightweight champion of the world. 

Valdez scored an upset win and knockout of the year frontrunner over Miguel Berchelt last month in a fight he dominated from the first bell on, scoring knockdowns in the fourth, ninth, and eventually, a walk-off knockout in the tenth. 

Everything the 30-year-old Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs) did that night seemingly worked against the bigger Berchelt. 

Reynoso said the two-time Mexican Olympian’s performance was all accomplished by design.

“I’m very happy for Oscar. It was a big victory in my life as well,” Reynoso told BoxingScene.com in an interview. “I made a personal promise to Oscar going into the fight. I’m proud of the work he did. I’m motivated in this new chapter of my career with him as well.  Yes, 100 percent [it was the best coaching performance of my career].

“The game plan we drew up was perfect. We worked six months for this fight, perfecting counterpunches, feints, sidestepping and jabbing. The fight result was a product of the game plan. Oscar is such a great athlete and fighter and one of the world’s best fighters.”

The undefeated Valdez was formerly trained by Manny Robles but switched gears in 2018 to Reynoso following a brutal win over Scott Quigg that resulted in a broken jaw.  

The duo has now scored five wins and four knockouts together and they’re in line for bigger fights in the 130-pound division. 

Reynoso credits Valdez’s valiant victory over Berchelt to the fighter’s work ethic. 

“The most important element of a boxer and trainer relationship is the discipline,” said Reynoso. “I treat my fighters like they are my family. We walk the same lines together. It’s an important practice we preach every day.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com