If Freddie Roach will have his way, he would like to see newly-crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight king Manny Pacquiao show up at the Wild Card seven weeks before the proposed Nov. 8 showdown with Venezuelan knockout king Edwin Valero.
Roach told boxing herald.com yesterday that owing to Valero?s heavy hands, he has to work closely with the Filipino southpaw so they could come up with a perfect game plan meant to neutralize Valero?s firepower.
“We won?t take this fight lightly of course so we will be ready regardless,” said Roach, who steered Pacquiao to a ninth round demolition of David Diaz last week in Las Vegas.
“We have to worry about Valero?s punching power, he has one-punch knockout power, and we respect that,” said the 48-year-old multi-awarded corner man. “We need to work on defense a little bit because he got hit a few times by Diaz.”
Top Rank chief Bob Arum wants the Pacquiao-Valero battle to take place in Las Vegas as he has already struck a deal with Akihiko Honda, the Japanese promoter of Valero, the current World Boxing Association super-feather ruler.
Pacquiao has a dizzying itinerary in the coming weeks and coupled with his studies at Notre Dame College in General Santos City and personal and business commitments, the 29-year-old fighter will also have to squeak in a short trip to Beijing early next month should Olympic organizers approve his accreditation as flag-carrier for the Philippines.
While the Valero fight has yet to be finalized and formally announced, Roach is of the opinion that the South American puncher appears to be it at the moment as he had been told about it by Arum the other day.
Valero is undefeated in 24 fights with all wins coming by knockout, including 19 in the first round.
Arum believes a match-up between Pacquiao, a certified crowd-drawer and Valero, who has a terrific fan base, will catch the fancy of the fans all over the world.
Arum will wait for the decision of the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Valero?s application for a license before officially saying who, when and where Pacquiao is going to fight next.
