After taking the 125-pound gold medal in the World (or President’s) Cup in Russia on Dec. 11, Nogales, Ariz.-native Oscar Valdez Jr., who now fights for Team Mexico with his dual citizenship, was hoping for a little more fanfare when he came back to his hometown of Nogales, Son.

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With violence and gunfire seeming to increase again south of the border, that wasn’t the case.

“He feels sad because of all the shootings in Nogales, Sonora,” said Valdez’s father, Oscar Valdez Sr. “He thinks there should have been more people on the streets when he returned, but because of all the violence, the streets were quiet.”

The junior Valdez, however, was anything but quiet when he entered the ring in Russia.

He defeated Africa’s Jean John Colin by knockout, Europe’s Elshan Ismailov in a 6-2 decision and Europe’s Dmitry Polyansky, a southpaw, in a 7-2 title decision, according to an International Boxing Association Web site.

“It’s wild. He’s very excited,” Valdez Sr. said. “In Italy (during the World Amateur Boxing Championships earlier in the year), he won the bronze, and he said he was going to do his best to get the gold medal this time. He was sure of himself, and he got it. ‘Now I’m number one,’ he told me. He’s such a comedian.”

The youngster also turned 19 on Tuesday—and has the rest of his future to think about. In between now and the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the Valdez clan is considering a league sponsored by the International Boxing Association in which the right-hander can fight professionally and still be eligible to compete in the Olympics, in order to avenge a first-round loss to the eventual gold medalist in 2008 games.

“We’re going to have to see how they’re going run that,” Valdez Sr. said. “We’re going to look into the advantages and disadvantages. If we sign with them they give money … but we don’t want to rush into anything. We’re going to wait a bit and see what the contract might look like.”

As far as the 2012 Games is concerned, “I think he’s going to do good,” said his father. “My son has told me, ‘I have been fighting the best in every country, so I am figuring out how these other fighters fight.’ He’ll now know how to face them in the Olympics.”

He will also likely be one of the front-runners after his victory in Russia.

“That’ll be better for him because the judges see that,” Valdez Sr. said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Valdez Jr. was unavailable for comment before presstime.