This Saturday night at the Plaza De Toro in Cancun, Mexico, a pair of young world champions headline a pay-per-view show that has been dubbed, ‘Night of Champions?, and in the leading roles, WBA super featherweight titlist Edwin Valero faces Zaid Zavaleta and WBC featherweight belt-holder Jorge Linares takes on Gamaliel Diaz.
They are both Venezuelan, undefeated and blessed with supreme tools. But their styles couldn’t be more contrasting.
Valero, whose record stands at 22-0 with 22 knockouts, is a fighter who relies on brute strength and unerring power. Linares, 24-0 with 15 KOs, is a graceful, beautiful boxer with the footwork of a ballet dancer. Valero is a sledgehammer who hits you over the head with bludgeoning force; Linares a scalpel that makes precise incisions as he performs surgery. Valero attacks with reckless abandon; Linares probes and analyzes. Valero is a southpaw banger; Linares a right-handed stylist.
One is fire. The other is ice.
“They’re as different as night and day,” says veteran cutman Tony Rivera, who will be working the show this weekend. “One is a beautiful fighter, all the skills in the world. And the other guy is strength with a lot of skills.”
When you see Linares move around the ring you just get the sense he’s something special. His gym reputation grew around Southern California as he more than held his own against Manny Pacquiao in the last days of his sparring before his rematch against Erik Morales in January of 2006, back when he was just an unknown preliminary fighter being promoted in Japan. As you see him work the pads with Sendai Tenaka, the blend of speed, balance and technique stand out. You didn’t have to be a Branch Rickey to know that when you saw Ken Griffey Jr. taking batting practice that he stood out. And you don’t have to be Eddie Futch to know that Linares is gifted.
He burst onto the American scene by impressively taking apart veteran Oscar Larios in 11 rounds this past July for the vacant WBC title on the Bernard Hopkins-Winky Wright pay-per-view undercard. The HBO announcing crew of Jim Lampley, Emanuel Steward and Max Kellerman was effusive in their praise.
This kid just has that ‘look’.
“I used to work with Alexis Arguello and I see a lot of Alexis in him,” says Rivera of the Nicaraguan legend. “He does not waste punches when he’s boxing. He’s got pretty footwork, he’s quick, he’s fast and he’s efficient with all his punches.”
He seems so natural, but he swears he’s not Roy Hobbs. Not only did boxing not come easy to him, he says he’s had to adapt and evolve his style as a professional.
“I was more of a technician in the amateurs, but now I’m starting to get more offensive. Boxing wasn’t easy, it’s a lot of hard work to get where I am,” he would say through an interpreter at the Maywood Boxing Club last week. A mix of his natural talent and a strong work ethic is a lethal combination.
“At 126 I feel strong and fast and I’m ready,” said Linares, whose nickname is ‘the Golden Boy’ for his handsome mug. “But can you imagine me at 130 pounds, where I want to fight the elite fighters in the division?”
It’s clear, Linares has names like Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez in his sights. Rudy Hernandez, another tough-to-please gym veteran says, “Wait till you see him at 130 pounds. He’s going to blossom into an even better fighter.”
Hernandez, who himself was a respected boxer in his day and who trained his brother, Genaro, to a long run as a junior lightweight champion, says, “He’s just got that special talent, the handspeed, the footwork, the instincts. It’s something you can’t teach. And he loves the sport.”
As of now, Linares is just another belt-holder in the featherweight division alongside the likes of Steven Luevano, Chris John and Robert Guerrero, looking to build his name and make a few title defenses. But his reputation among the die-hard denizens of the sport is growing, and he shouldn’t be unknown for long.
“I think Linares will be a superstar in another year or so when he gets all polished up and done. He’ll be a dangerous guy to fight,” Rivera says.
Linares says his ultimate goal is to do one better than ‘El Flaco Explosivo’, who won titles in three weight classes from 126 to 135 pounds.
“My dream,” he says, “is to be a four-time world champion. Featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and super lightweight.”
The future seems endless for Linares. But not so for Valero, who was placed under medical suspension by the state of New York prior to his bout in early 2004 for a past injury to his head. Valero became a bit of an internet sensation with the help of Doug Fischer and scored 18 consecutive first round knockouts. There was a certain buzz about him – 18 consecutive bouts that don’t see the second round seem to have that effect. During that stretch, after nearly 18 months out of the ring as attempts to get him re-licensed in the States failed, he would pack his bags for Japan and sign a deal with Teiken Promotions. By his 19th bout, he was finally pushed out of the first three minutes of a bout, as Genaro Trazancos would extend him all the way into the second stanza. His next fight in August of 2006 would be a back-and-forth donnybrook versus WBA champion Vicente Mosquera in the titlist?s home country of Panama. After visiting the canvas himself, Valero would stop Mosquera in ten for the title.
He’s a champion now, but one whose big-fight future is murky. The reality is that without the ability to fight in the States, he’ll be nothing more than a hard-hitting footnote; a curiosity who may never get his shot at greatness.
“The one thing I’d like the most is to fight here in the United States again,” he would say in Maywood after he and Linares had wrapped up their day?s work. “And to fight the guys who are up there in this division so I could get paid well.”
Hernandez says that if he is denied that opportunity, “We’d be missing out on one of the greatest fighters of his generation. I think that’s part of the reason that he’s not so much in love with the sport, because the opponents have not been given to him. He believes he is a world champion and he’s OK with that. But I personally believe that if he got in the public eye here in the United States and that fame would just blossom, he’d have a whole different attitude about boxing.”
When he’s asked if motivation is lacking, Valero would answer: “The good thing is I’m not just sitting around doing nothing. I’m still fighting. I may not be getting paid what I would be against the bigger names, but I’m still fighting and making a living.”
But he holds out hope that he will get re-licensed here.
“Yes, I know I’ll be fighting in the United States again,” he says, in perhaps a bit of blind faith.
Valero is known for one thing – power. He seems to have the most omnipotent set of hands this side of Benny Hinn. He touches people, and they fall to the floor.
“I see him as Pipino Cuevas – that guy hit you and you were out,” said Rivera, who also worked with the former welterweight champion back in the day. “Valero staggers you and he finishes you. He’s got so much power. He’s solid everywhere, in his back, his hands, his legs, he’s a solid person.”
They say punchers are born, they are not made, and it’s clear that he was a born puncher. As for whatever technical flaws he may have, they can all be erased with one shot.
“His record speaks for itself, 22-0 with 22 wins by knockout,” says Hernandez, whose current fighters, Urbano Antillon and Jose Armando Santa Cruz, have sparred many rounds with both Linares and Valero in the past. “And most of his knockouts you can count the guy out ten times. He’s got the special gift, that power.”
When asked about his punching prowess, Valero just laughs and says, “It’s just something that developed when I turned professional. Everybody knew about it before I did.”
He admits he has surprised himself with his early KOs.
“Yes,” he says laughing at the thought. “They attack me, I swing and they fall.”
FUTURE?
So what does Teiken Promotions have in store for this dynamic duo?
When it comes to Linares, “I think we’d like to have him fight in the States, relatively soon, maybe the first quarter,” says Nobu Ikushima. “But at this point we’re still looking for some offers and we’re actually looking at some offers as well. It’s in the plans.”
Linares will continue to fight in Japan, regardless.
“He’ll definitely have a presence in Japan and possibly in South America,” says Ikushima. “He likes fighting in Venezuela and Panama – that’s his home area. He also said he wants to fight in Japan and obviously here, as well, to get the exposure.
As for Valero, he just might be at the mercy of the New York State Athletic Commission.
“At this point we don’t know yet as to what’s going on but we’re still waiting and we’re going to see what happens. We’re just waiting.”
PPV INFO
‘Night of Champions’ also features the WBC featherweight title clash between Rudy Lopez and Noaki Matsuda and a featherweight bout between Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. and Jorge Cardenas.
The telecast begins at 9:00 PM Eastern/6:00 Pacific on Saturday night.
