Manny Pacquiao, the Ring Magazine and consensus 2006 Fighter of the Year, has become one of boxing’s most exciting, accomplished and internationally marketable boxers. Edwin Valero, an undefeated Venezuelan slugger, fighting primarily in Japan, is the most intriguing phenom in Pacquiao’s super featherweight division. The question many forward-thinking boxing fans are asking is: when will they fight?
The career of Manny Pacquiao, 43-3-2, 34 KO’s, has been well documented. In 2003, Pacquiao emphatically put his name on the world boxing map when he dominated future Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera, forcing an eleventh round stoppage. In his next fight, Pacquiao floored featherweight belt-holder Juan Manuel Marquez three times in the first round, only to settle for a draw as a result of dubious scoring by one judge. The “Pacman” went on to generate throngs of fans across the globe as he twice knocked out another boxing luminary, Erik Morales, as part of an epic trilogy. Morales had never previously been knocked down or stopped. The Filipino Pacquiao is now universally recognized as the #2 Pound-for-Pound fighter in the world, behind only Floyd Mayweather, JR.
Pacquiao is a major pay-per-view draw in a sport in dire need of new faces. However, he has already out-classed the other obvious super featherweight foes, Barrera and Morales. Pacquiao is currently scheduled for an April 14th bout versus Jorge Solis, whose most notable fight is a no-contest against Humberto Soto. Pacquiao is searching for his next true challenge. So are boxing fans.
While Pacquiao was busy adding bullet-points to his Hall of Fame resume, a small but explosive Edwin Valero, had started his career setting a world record with eighteen consecutive first round knockouts. In his nineteenth professional fight, Valero committed an unthinkable sin: he stopped his opponent in the second round. Despite Valero’s ability to overwhelm opponents, the consensus in Boxiana was that the low quality of his opposition made his actual ability difficult to assess. In August 2006, Valero finally had an opportunity to legitimize his growing reputation, and he dutifully slugged his way to a tenth round KO win over WBA Super Featherweight Title holder, Vicente Mosquera. Valero’s next fight is scheduled for May 3, against Nobuhito Honmo in Tokyo.
It is easy to gawk at Valero’s credentials, but to most boxing fans Valero’s prowess is as mythical as the supposed “gyroball” thrown by recently signed Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. In Valero’s 21-fight five-year career, he has yet to make an appearance on American television, and has not fought in the U.S. since 2003. Fanatical boxing fans have surely found themselves hunched over their computers watching blurry footage of his fights on youtube.com (the same place baseball diehards go to find video of Matsuzaka’s gyroball). However, to the casual boxing fan, Valero is known merely by a simple yet compelling notation: 21-0, 21 KO’s.
There is good reason for Valero’s absence from American turf for more than three years. In 2004, superstardom appeared around the corner for Valero. After twelve professional fights he signed a promotional contract with the burgeoning Golden Boy Promotions, and had a date to appear on HBO. Leading up his big night, Valero failed an MRI and subsequent CAT scan, required by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), which showed brain irregularities due to trauma. The NYSAC was forced to suspend his license to box, which has been honored nationwide.
Reportedly, the likely cause of Valero’s brain trauma was a 2001 motorcycle accident, which occurred while Valero was still fighting as an amateur. In that accident, Valero was purportedly doing more than 70 mph when he collided with a car which unexpectedly appeared in front of him. The impact launched Valero off his motorcycle, headfirst into the car in front of him. He was not wearing a helmet. He had surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain resulting from the incident.
After his suspension was issued, Valero took more than a year away from boxing. In 2005, Valero reappeared on the boxing scene fighting in Japan, notorious for its lenient licensing standards. As should be evident, Valero resumed right where he left off, scoring first-round knockouts in his first six comeback fights.
Valero’s health remains the major barrier to a potential Pacquiao-Valero fight, because it has hindered the marketing of this electrifying fighter. It is important to always remember that, first and foremost, boxing is a business. Even though a fight between these two 130-pounders could be an exceptional slugfest, to maximize the value of this fight, Valero must build a broader following than the current loyal group of boxing’s youtubers. To do this, Valero must find his way onto American television. Hopefully he can find his way onto an undercard of an American televised foreign fight. It would be far easier if he could find a way to have his license reinstated in the U.S. If Tommy Morrison and Joe Mesi could do it, perhaps Valero can as well.
However, until Valero has a sufficiently sized bandwagon, a Pacquiao rematch with Barrera or Marquez will be far more lucrative and more meaningful to Pacquiao, his promoters, and most boxing fans. Pacquiao would surely like an opportunity to avenge his draw to Marquez, and another chance to outclass fellow Pound-for-Pounder Barrera would further confirm his superiority. Both fights would be huge PPV draws, and each would be hyped with fight-of-the-year capability.
In addition to the need to maximize the promotion, we don’t truly know if Valero is competitively ready for a fighter of Pacquiao’s caliber. Valero is merely 25 and has only been thrust into discussions for a potential Pacquiao fight because Pacquiao has overpowered everyone else and is running out of opponents. The Venezuelan phenom is alluring with his quick work and knockout power, but it has left him with minimal experience. Through 21 fights, Valero has fought only 31 total rounds. By contrast, Pacquiao, only three years older, has fought 242 career rounds. Even if Valero does have a tremendous amount raw talent, at this point of his career it is optimistic to believe he can harness all that ability against a boxer of Pacquiao’s caliber.
While a Pacquiao-Valero fight would surely be a well-touted event, in the current climate, the fight is not yet fully ripe. Let’s give Valero a chance to get reinstated in the U.S. Let’s see Valero get on U.S. television. Let’s see his stunning knockouts from a platform where millions of fans can watch. Let’s see him step-up his level of competition and maintain his dominance. Let’s see him hone his technical skills. Let’s give him a year.
Boxing freaks may not want to wait a year, but Valero has some assignments to complete before this bout ripens to its mega-fight potential. Not to worry, in the meantime we can settle for Pacquiao’s potential fight-of-the-year rematches with Barrera or Marquez, ideally the victor of their March 17th bout.
In 1980, after Sugar Ray Leonard defeated Roberto Duran, the world clamored for a Leonard fight with Tommy Hearns. They waited. Angelo Dundee, Leonard’s trainer, when asked why he did not immediately schedule a Leonard-Hearns fight, responded, “What for? Not now. Let it get juicy. Cause I can smell it when it’s gonna be a big big promotion.” They fought a year later in what would be the 1981 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year, and become generally recognized as one of the greatest fights in boxing’s long history.
Granted, at this point, comparing Pacquiao-Valero to Leonard-Hearns would be like comparing Dan Quayle to John F. Kennedy. But, if Leonard and Hearns could wait, so can Pacquiao and Valero. So can we.
