As a young boy, featherweight contender Oscar Valdez was enamored by boxing and, as a Mexican growing up in Tucson, Arizona, his favorite fighters were not surprisingly world champion countrymen Erik Morales, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. and Jose Luis Castillo.And like so many boxing fans he also loved the rivalry between Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, who waged three epic title fights that will be a big part of their legacies when the International Hall of Fame eventually beckons them. Valdez watched their fights and dreamed of winning a world title like they had.Now all grown up at age 25, Valdez has his chance to win the world title he has dreamed of. With Vasyl Lomachenko relinquishing his featherweight title after moving up in weight and winning a junior lightweight belt on June 11, Valdez (19-0, 17 KOs) will square off with Argentinas Matias Adrian Rueda (26-0, 23 KOs) for the vacant title on Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The fight is the co-feature to the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol junior welterweight title unification fight.It would be a dream come true, Valdez said of winning the belt. Ive dreamed of it since I first stepped in the ring. I watched Morales and Barrera fight and I said I wanted to be one of those big names. I would picture myself being like them inside the ring. I was more of an Erik Morales guy. I rooted for him but I respected Barrera also. They were both great fighters and I want to be like them.Valdez, who represented Mexico in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics -- the only two-time Olympic boxer in the nations history -- became an even bigger Morales fan when he had a chance to meet him as an amateur.I met him a couple of times and they were great experiences. He gave me tips on fighting when I was amateur, he said. It was very exciting for me. I also got to meet Julio Cesar Chavez and Castillo, my idols. They all said Ill be a future world champion. For them to say that means a lot to me. They were greats in boxing, so it was motivation knowing theyve got faith in me.Valdez said he first met Morales at an amateur tournament in San Diego. Morales, who is from nearby Tijuana, took a liking to Valdezs pressure style that was reminiscent of his own.They asked him who he liked the best on the Mexican team and he said, I like the bantamweight, said Valdez, a bantamweight at the time. That meant a lot to me. Now I have a chance to win this title as a professional in the same weight class Morales was champion in. Thats big for me.Top Rank signed Valdez out of the 2012 Olympics and has considered him one its top prospects from that Olympic class along with lightweight Felix Verdejo and junior welterweight Jose Ramirez. So far, Valdez has lived up to the expectations but with one more big step to take -- winning that 126-pound title.I think it would be tremendous for him to win that title, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. Oscar is recognized all over Mexico as a double Olympian. Hes very, very well thought of and the people in Tucson are crazy about him. Theres a whole delegation coming to Las Vegas to go to the fight and to talk to me about doing his first title defense in Tucson if he wins. We know this is a big fight for Valdez. Its extraordinarily important and if he wins the title he will be very, very difficult to dislodge.When told that Valdez idolized Morales, Arum, who promoted Morales for most of his career, said he sees some similarities between them.I think their styles are somewhat similar in that theyre not wild-swinging guys, Arum said. Theyre guys who throw straight punches and are effective. They have a style thats what I call contained aggression.Arum said he takes satisfaction in bringing prospects from the amateurs to professional world titles. Top Rank has done it over and over and over for the past several decades and he is hoping Valdez can join the long list that includes Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto and many others.Thats our job. As a promoter that is our most important function that we do, Arum said. Thats why we are able to attract a lot of these prospects. They know we have a track record of succeeding.Valdez plans to do his part after scoring his biggest win in his last fight when he wiped out former featherweight world titlist Evgeny Gradovich in the fourth round of a dominant showing.I definitely feel ready. Im very excited, Valdez said. I think Ive been ready for a shot at the world title so Im relaxed. I just listened to my manager, Frank Espinoza. Hes an expert. Im very grateful to him and to Top Rank for getting me this chance to fight for a world title.Valdez said he feels he has been ready for ages to fight for a title, going back to not long after he turned pro in late 2012. The reason is because he said he held his own in spirited sparring with top fighters such as Leo Santa Cruz, Orlando Salido and Lee Selby, all of whom won featherweight world titles.I know sparring is different than the fights but I felt I was ready, Valdez said. It was pretty good sparring. If I did good sparring I know I could do good in fights. I felt ready then but my manager didnt at the time and said to be patient. Frank and Top Rank, they do their job and I do my job in the ring.Said Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti: Hes ready. We all think hes ready. If we didnt think Oscar Valdez was ready for this title fight we wouldnt put him in this position. We would have held him back, but there was no reason to.Now Valdezs job is to take care of Rueda, 28, who has fought once previously in the United States but had all of his other bouts in Argentina against opponents with no name recognition.Valdez does not know much about him other than having watched a few brief video clips but said that does not concern him because he always fought opponents in amateur tournaments with little knowledge of them ahead of time.What we do know is he is a hard-hitting fighter, Valdez said. But we have a plan A, B and C. My mentality is to beat Rueda. Im very focused on this guy. Im very focused on winning. Cheap Air Max 90 China . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Cheap Nike Air Max 90 Premium . 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Geoff Ogilvy, winner of a U.S. Open and three World Golf Championships, failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs just as his exemption from his eighth and most recent PGA Tour victory ran out.He thought about playing the Web.com Tour Finals and hasnt entirely ruled it out, though he skipped the first event and is not entered in the second. Instead, he plans to take a one-time exemption for top 50 on the career money list at age 39.Ogilvy is at No. 28 on the career money list, one spot behind Rory Sabbatini, who also has applied for the career money exemption. However, Sabbatini decided to play in the Web.com Tour Finals and made it pay off quickly. He tied for sixth in the opening event last week and now only needs to make the cut to secure his card.The career money exemption typically is used late in a players career as he moves closer to age 50 and PGA Tour Champions eligibility. One notion was to avoid using the exemption too early. This didnt make sense to Ogilvy.Guys will take it at the end of their careers as a bridge to the Champions Tour. Thats the traditional thought about it, he said. But at that point, I could play enough tournaments to amuse me at 48 while trying to bridge that gap. But if youre just using it as a bridge, youre not as competitive anymore. Thats what I thought about it. This is really what its for, to get you through a bad patch. What if I never need it again? Then youre asking, `Why didnt I take it?If he gets his game turned around, Ogilvy could easily move back into the top 25 in career money and save that one-time exemption for another day.The idea of playing four Web.com Tour Finals events appealed to him because he felt as though he was playing better over the last month. He had three top 25s in his last four events, the best three finishes of his season.I felt if I had three or four more weeks, I would have gotten there, he said. At first, I was thought I would go play the Web.com. But I feel like I want to play a full, regular, normal year. My golf needs one of those. With a Web card, youre not getting in all the tournaments.He will start at the Safeway Open, though Ogilvy said he would not fall into the trap of feeling as though he has to play every week because of the one-time exemption.Carl Pettersson also has filed for the Top 50 career money exemption.---DAY AND NIKE: Nike appears set to add another No. 1 golfer to its stable, this time strictly for the apparel.ESPN is reporting that Jason Day will sign a deal with Nike to wear its clothes, hat and shoes starting next year. Nike announced last month it is getting out of the equipment business. ESPN cited sources as saying that Day would continue using TaylorMade equipment, but not the Adidas apparel or shoes.Golfweek magazine said another Day sponsor, Concur, is expanding its deal in which the Australian would have the logo on his bag instead of the crest of his shirt.Nike previously had Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods when they were No. 1, both full-line deals involving apparel and golf clubs.---RORY NOT REWARDED: Rory McIlroy became a footnote in FedEx Cup history as the only player to win a playoff event and still not be among the top five seeds going into the Tour Championship at East Lake.Part of the reason is McIlroy made only two birdies on Sunday at the BMW Championship for a 72 and tied for 42nd.A larger part was Paul Casey.Casey began the playoffs at No. 68, while McIlroy was at No. 36. They both tied for 31st at The Barclays. But while McIlroy earned 2,000 points for winning the Deutsche Bank Championship, Casey picked up 2,400 points for his two runner-up finishes at the TPC Boston and Crooked Stick.dddddddddddd That was enough to move him ahead of McIlroy by 27 points and into the No. 5 seed.McIlroy would have needed to be two shots better at Crooked Stick to secure the No. 5 seed.Because the points are reset, the top five seeds only have to win the Tour Championship to claim the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus. McIlroy, or even Jordan Spieth behind him at No. 7, could still win the FedEx Cup without winning at East Lake, depending on what the players do ahead of him.---THE EXCEPTION: Along with a shot at $10 million for winning the FedEx Cup, the greatest perk about the Tour Championship is getting into the majors.This year was a reminder that it doesnt get a player into all of them.The Masters, U.S. Open and British Open all list the Tour Championship field as criteria for being exempt into their championships. The PGA Championship is the exception. Its qualifications are based on results of the previous PGA Championship, major champions over the last five years, PGA Tour winners in the previous 12 months and then a PGA Tour money list from a 12-month period leading to the final major of the year.Anyone who gets to the Tour Championship usually has won enough money, or is among the top 100 in the world ranking, so its usually not an issue.But it was this year.Steven Bowditch was at East Lake last year. He finished 12th in the Tour Championship and was No. 58 in the world. But the Australian lost weight through a fitness plan, which affected his swing, and he went into a deep slump. He played the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. He was No. 141 at the time of the PGA Championship and he was far outside the top 70 in PGA points and didnt get in.---DIVOTS: The Ricoh Womens British Open will return to Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 2018 for the fifth time. ... Bo Van Pelt, who had a torn labrum in his left arm, picked the right time to realize he needed surgery. He was using a one-time career money exemption last year, but because he played only five events, Van Pelt is still playing out of that category when he returns. Van Pelt said he is about five months into his recovery from surgery, in which he had his bicep reattached, and hopes to return early next year. ... Seven members of Europes Ryder Cup team are playing the Italian Open this week. The exceptions are Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Thomas Pieters. ... Phil Mickelson was leading the Vardon Trophy two weeks ago. Now hes at No. 5 with one week remaining. ... Dustin Johnson was 15 under on the par 5s at the BMW Championship, the second-best performance this year on the PGA Tour behind Jordan Spieth (16 under) at Kapalua.---STAT OF THE WEEK: Paul Casey made $1,836,000 by finishing second the last two weeks, $25,857 less than what Arnold Palmer earned in his PGA Tour career.---FINAL WORD, PART I: We have an actual game plan. We know whos going to be playing with who, when theyre going to be playing, what matches. We have time now to work together and create that partnership. -- Ryder Cup task force member Phil Mickelson on Sunday.FINAL WORD, PART II: I need to sit down with these guys and talk to them about, `Who do you think you would want to play with? Who do you think you would want to practice with? So all those things weve got to talk about and thats going to help us decide who the twelfth guy is. -- Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III on Monday. ' ' '