UNLESS he gets the green light to fight on American soil, Freddie Roach doesn’t want Manny Pacquiao to square off with unbeaten Venezuelan knockout king Edwin Valero.
“What if Manny hits him right and he dies?” said Roach when asked about the desire of Valero to face the Filipino southpaw in a slambang super-featherweight shootout.
While Valero is making waves with trouble-free wins over untested foes, Roach believes it would be much better for Pacquiao to face bigger name rivals such as Mexicans Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez and Joan Guzman of the Dominican Republic.
Besides, Roach said, only hardcore fans of the fight game know who Valero is.
“Nobody knows him in America,” said Roach of Valero, who reigns as the World Boxing Association 130-lb titleholder.
Valero recently called out Pacquiao’s name after an obscure Mexican challenger, Michael Lozada, was knocked out by the 25-year-old Valero in just 72 seconds in Tokyo.
Valero, who holds a 21-0-0 win-loss-draw ledger with all coming by knockout, including 19 in the first round, is banned from showcasing his stuff in the US after failing to pass an MRI test of his brain in New York stemming from a motorcycle accident that took place in Venezuela a few years ago.
Reports from the US say that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has requested that Valero take another test to determine if the previous test result was either inconclusive or wrong.
Then under the promotional banner of Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), Valero had no choice but to bring his skills elsewhere and wound up in Japan where he was taken in by Akihiko Honda, the big boss of the influential Teiken Promotions.
Valero’s current manager is Oscar dela Hoya’s father and reports from the US reveal that noted names have started to explore the possibility of handling the affairs of the South American sensation.
One of them is outgoing Pacquiao manager Shelly Finkel, who told the Bulletin that nothing came out of the talks with Valero’s people.
Pacquiao, who is penciled to battle Korean Injin Chi in Macau on April 28, had earlier described Valero’s victims as a bunch of tricycle drivers since the vast majority were of inferior quality.
Valero is one of two Venezuelan punchers under the care of Teiken. The other is Jorge Linares, another undefeated prospect who also fights in the 130-lb division.
