Unlike Marco Antonio Barrera, WBA superfeatherweight champion Edwin Valero of Venezuela won?t run away from Manny Pacquiao and promised to fight the Filipino icon toe-to-toe if and when they square off.
The talk is the knockout artists are on a collision course and both appear eager to face each other in what would be an all-out war.
Valero told The STAR in Las Vegas recently he expects to get Pacquiao in the ring sometime next year, sooner than later.
?I won?t run away, that?s not my style,? said Valero in Spanish. ?It will be a ?choque? (collision). I?ll fight him without backing down and I?ll beat him. I?ll knock him out because I am stronger.?
Valero, 25, exuded confidence in predicting Pacquiao?s downfall, particularly as Barrera pointed him out as his heir apparent after announcing his retirement last week. Barrera also said Valero would beat Pacquiao, something the Baby-Faced Assassin from Mexico failed to do in two attempts four years apart.
Valero said he flew from Tokyo, where he is based, to Guadalajara to spar with Barrera in preparing for the Pacquiao rematch.
?I can?t remember how many rounds we sparred but we sparred a lot,? said Valero in an exclusive interview. ?And it?s not true I knocked him out during our sparring. I learned many tricks from Barrera in camp and I?ll use them when I fight Pacquiao.?
Valero moved to Tokyo last year when promoter Akihiko Honda invited him to relocate after he couldn?t overturn a ban from fighting in the US due to a speck in the brain stemming from a motorcycle accident in 2001.
But Valero said he will be reinstated next year, for sure.
?I was just examined by Dr. Ignacio Madrazo who declared me to be fit,? said Valero. ?I expect to be given a US license next year so I can fight Pacquiao even in Las Vegas or wherever we decide.?
Dr. Madrazo was the Mexican doctor who inserted protective implants in Barrera?s brain to replace abnormal blood vessels in 1997, eight years after he turned pro. The surgery was to correct a congenital defect and had nothing to do with boxing. Barrera took a nine-month layoff then resumed fighting after he was cleared by doctors.
In the press conference at the Mandalay Bay Events Center after losing to Pacquiao, Barrera said he owed his ?second life? to Dr. Madrazo.
Asked what he perceived to be Pacquiao?s weaknesses (?debilidades?), Valero shrugged his shoulders. ?I don?t care about my opponents? weaknesses,? he said. ?I just look at their strengths. As for Pacquiao, I don?t see a problem for me. I will knock him out.?
Valero spoke with conviction, owing to his spectacular record of 22-0, with 22 KOs, including 19 in the first round. The 5-7 southpaw turned pro in 2002 and has fought in Panama, Argentina, France, the US and Japan in establishing his career. He won the WBA crown on a 10th round stoppage of Vicente Mosquera last year but not before being floored in the second.
Valero said living in Tokyo has made him more disciplined. ?I don?t speak English or Japanese, only Spanish,? he noted. ?So I don?t do anything in Tokyo except stay in my apartment and go to the gym every day. That?s all I do. I stay in condition and I?m in the best shape of my life.?
Valero is set to make the third defense of his 130-pound crown against Fernando Trejo in Cancun on Dec. 15.
Los Angeles trainer Joe Hernandez, who has worked in Valero?s corner, said the fighter?s problem is overconfidence.
