Many, including Top Rank chief Bob Arum, wanted Oscar Valdez to retire after witnessing Emanuel Navarrete dismantle him en route to a sixth-round knockout in their Dec. 7 rematch.

The former two-division world champion (32-3, 24 KOs) was stopped for the first time in his career that night, after 12 years and 34 previous professional fights — including a dozen at championship level.

Instead, as BoxingScene first reported, the 34-year-old reunited with a familiar face in highly regarded head coach Manny Robles and has a Sept. 6 fight booked to return in his native Mexico.

It'll mark the first time he competes on home soil in 12 years, and perhaps that welcoming environment is what he needs most now, especially seeing how Daigo Higa and Carlos Canizales were received in contrasting homecomings this past week.

Higa (21-3-3, 19 KOs) honoured his promise to retire if it wasn't third time lucky challenging for a bantamweight title, while Canizales (28-3-1, 20 KOs) climbed off the canvas to stop Panya Pradabsri five rounds into their junior flyweight title rematch.

Valdez is older than both men, endured more wars and finds himself in the middle of a 130-pound division where youthful contenders are making a name for themselves.

Eduardo Nunez (28-1, 27 KOs) will make the first defence of his newly-won IBF title that same night against Christopher Diaz (30-5, 19 KOs), while Raymond Ford and Hayato Tsutsumi (both 26) have Saudi assignments live on a DAZN PPV bill headlined by Moses Itauma-Dillian Whyte on Aug. 16.

Elsewhere there's renewed optimism about WBC's No. 1-ranked contender Eduardo "Rocky" Hernandez (37-2, 32 KOs) while Britain's Ryan Garner (18-0, 9 KOs) isn't far off world level either. Both are 27 and entering their prime years.

While Valdez is unlikely to face stiff opposition in his first fight back under Robles, there's renewed optimism that he can finish a successful career on a high — especially judging by performances training alongside younger foes recently.

"He's been holding his own against elite sparring, which tells me a lot, he's still in a good place mentally and physically," Robles told The Ring.

"Obviously being in the gym and the ring are two different things, but I expect him to be coachable, work on a few things we've been honing, want him to execute and importantly show me he wants to grow, become better and we'll take it from there."

Valdez spent six years and 11 fights under Eddy Reynoso's tutelage, having departed Robles in 2018 having broken his jaw during a bittersweet 12-round WBO featherweight title defence against Scott Quigg.

At the time, the coaching change was deemed natural progression to a more defensively responsible mindset and Valdez wanted to "become an even better all-around boxer and fighter," which included an eventual move up in weight.

While he notched two more title defences over unbeaten opposition before joining the 130-pound division, the jury's still out on whether the Nogales man fully maximised his potential after failing to solve the Navarrete puzzle over 18 rounds — Denys Berinchyk and more recently Charly Suarez had no problem doing so a year apart.

How did this return come about?

"He showed up in Los Angeles and caught me by surprise on my doorstep, in the gym, having flown in from Mexico. He asked for us to have a word, we sat down behind closed doors and had a good conversation. After some back and forth, we decided to give it another go but I said immediately after his last fight with Navarrete, should he retire?

"I said I would hate for him to go out this way given all he's accomplished and suddenly a few months later, he shows up at my gym. I told him, 'I can't promise you anything but I'll give 100% of myself and expect the same in return, give me 100% and if we can do that, we'll do some positive things.' Hopefully take it one fight at a time, get good results."

Valdez reached out a "couple" months ago and has been quietly building back to a return ever since.

Ranked No. 14 with the WBC, BoxRec rating him as the world's 11th-best feels disingenuous — though time will tell whether he's still got it or this is another false dawn.