Is Oscar Valdez’s expiration date at hand?

A little more than 10 years ago, before he became a two-division world champion, Oscar Valdez fought on a Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view card as promoter Top Rank assembled a powerful contingent of young fighters.

In addition to Valdez, who was raised straddling the U.S. border with Mexico and Arizona, the promotion had Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko, Central California’s Jose Ramirez and Puerto Rico’s Felix Verdejo.

“At this point, he’s very good, a terrific prospect,” Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler told the Los Angeles Times of Valdez that night. “We have a credo: ability and marketability. We think he has both. When a guy can fight, brings an audience from Mexico, Arizona and California, that’s a big fan base.

“Good puncher. This kid’s worth paying attention to.”

Now, with Lomachenko mulling retirement, Ramirez reeling from a recent loss that may send him there and Verdejo imprisoned for life for the kidnapping that led to the death of his pregnant lover, Valdez, 33, makes a treacherous walk to the ring Saturday night in Phoenix.

There, he’ll find WBO super-featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete 38-2-1 (31 KOs), who convincingly defeated Valdez by unanimous decision – one scorecard had it 11 rounds to one – in August 2023.

The way Valdez 32-2 (24 KOs) reacted so emotionally in defeating Liam Wilson in late March just to earn this rematch showed how deeply he appreciated the position.

But now that he’s here, with a dozen years of pro fights – more than 220 rounds, including some bloody wars – behind him, does this decade-older Valdez have what it takes to execute what his younger self burned for?

On Monday’s episode of BoxingScene’s “Top Stories” on ProBox TV, analysts Chris Algieri and Paulie Malignaggi discussed Valdez’s tenuous future after host Jimmy Smith likened the bout to a “Win Or Go Home” WWE match.

“It might apply, no?” asked Algieri. “In their first fight, Navarrete won handily. That was a big blow to Valdez with fans expecting an all-out, Mexican-on-Mexican blood-and-guts affair. It was not that.

“He’s had a long career between the amateurs (as an Olympian for Mexico) and the pros and the amount of tough fights he’s been in. If Valdez loses another matchup, it’d be a real blow to him and his stellar career.

“He’s a (occasional television) commentator who knows there’s life after boxing, and he’s (33), but based on the miles, he’s an old (33).”

Valdez responded to the first Navarrete defeat by saying he was too obsessed with landing a decisive hook that never materialized.

“He was too one-punch happy,” former welterweight champion Malignaggi said. “Valdez has enough versatility to mix it up and create a problem. Nabarrete can be flustered by his tactics.”

Navarrete, 29, is coming off his sloppiest showing yet, losing a May 18 decision to Ukraine’s Denys Berinchyk as they fought for the vacant WBO lightweight belt.

A Valdez victory is “not beyond comprehension,” Malignaggi said. “There’s different pathways these two can can travel to create that Mexican war we expected in their first fight.

“You can’t really count out a guy like (Valdez). It’s a sleeper good fight. We could get the barnburner we (originally) expected.”

Algieri noted that would mean a trilogy bout.

“(Valdez) has the skillset … if Valdez can go into his bag of skills, this has the propensity to be blood and guts,” Algieri said.

A decade ago, Valdez was fighting six times a year.

Back then, he stressed the importance of versatility.

“Being an amateur for so long helped me learn a lot of styles,” Valdez told the Los Angeles Times. “I hit pretty hard, and try to be a smart fighter. You always have to work, have discipline. I think every day I go to the gym, ‘I’m going to be someone. I’m going to be a champion.’ ”

He’s accomplished that, but now the workload has decreased.

Valdez will need to summon it once more to stand as a champion again as he makes just his second appearance of the 2024 calendar.

Fittingly, it’s in December.