TENTH ROUND KO BRINGS TITLE TO “HEAD” CASE!
Landover, MD-Long touted as one of boxing brightest prospects, jr. lightweight Edwin Valero (20-0, 20 KOs) earned his first major sanctioning body title (WBA) night Saturday in Venezuela with a reportedly rousing tenth round KO of Vicente Mosquera (24-2-1, 12 KOs). I say reportedly because the fight wasn’t aired in the United States and Valero’s next bout isn’t likely to be seen here either. It seems there is a little problem with Valero’s head…namely a major head trauma due to a motorcycle accident that continues to be the impetus for a medical suspension in New York and, by proxy, the rest of the States.
ELITE ACTION FIGHTER AT GREATER RISK OF DEATH?
The accident and subsequent suspension have added to Valero’s allure. It has been openly pondered if Valero was a creation of hype; if the enthusiasm expressed largely by Doug Fischer of Maxboxing was more significant than the fighter. Having seen Valero on tape a few times, the quality of the fighter was of little doubt to me, but questions remained as they always do for sensational punchers (Valero stopped his first 18 foes in the first round). The questions, about stamina, chin, and moxy were all answered according to reports. Valero: ? Went past the one and a half round mark for the first time; ? Dropped Mosquera in the first, third and tenth rounds; and ? Got up from his first career knockdown in the fourth. Sounds like a fight and a fighter worth watching right? Of course, but given the medical risks is a desire to watch enough to overcome the obvious questions.
HEAD TRAUMA A SERIOUS MATTER FOR SURE!
I expressed my outrage and frustration last year with the IBF ranking process as regarded the Leavander Johnson tragedy. I admit I do not feel the same sense of anger here towards the WBA, probably because Valero seems to be okay. However, if New York is right, and the juice isn’t worth the squeeze for the newest 130 lb. champion, who will be to blame for any ensuing tragedy? First and foremost will be Valero, who chooses to fight on because he wants to and is damn good at it. Men make their own choices and Valero has been nothing short of a man in the ring. However, the WBA allowing a medically suspended fighter to fight for one of their titles adds them to the list of responsible parties. They and their sanctioning fees are profiting from another’s risk, making them a liable party. Throw in the promoters, managers…and the fans. As long as Valero continues to win, the buzz among fans will continue to grow. Valero’s appeal as a renegade in a sport that loves them has made him the sort of underground star that brings in new fans to the sport based purely on his stats and story. He is, without U.S. TV appearances, the most talked about fighter in the world among the game’s hardcore fans and the chatter just increased ten-fold.
MARCO, PACMAN, JUAREZ, MORALES, & BARRIOS
It stands to reason that it will be only be a matter of time before fans want to see those stats tested and that story expanded against the very best in the game. At 130 lbs., some of the biggest names and best fighters any young tiger could hope to face loom with every defense Valero will make of his new belt. The curious fan, who will push Valero’s possible danger to himself to the back of his mind and rationalize their choice to watch, will do so as they cross their fingers for the biggest names in the division. With his power, it will only be a matter of time before names like Marco Antonio Barerra, Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales are bandied about and the dangers will increase.
VALERO’S HEALTH STATUS REMAINS A QUESTION!
Of course, all the worry could be for not. Valero may be in the right here; he may be healthy and go on to have a long career. One day, Valero-Pacquiao may be remembered as the sort of battle of lethal fast handed punchers that comes along only once a generation…or all of us keyboard warriors may be sitting around writing a eulogy. We don’t know, and the reality is that no one will be able to stop Valero from fighting as long as we don’t. Ironically, it is the same question of risk/reward that all fights and fighters pose, but the graphic illustration of it all makes Valero both one of the most promising and dangerous fighters to the sports image and to the fans view of themselves.
24-KARAT NOTEBOOK
Anyone who wrote off Kasim Ouma after his loss to Roman Karmazin last year needs to put down the mota. Ouma is still young and his loss followed on the heels of a long run of top ten challenges. Me thinks a title is in his future and I’d pick him easy against Cory Spinks…Could Rafael Marquez at 122 lbs. versus either World champ Israel Vasquez or titlist Somsak Sithchatchawal be anything short of a fight of the year candidate…Gary Shaw, who represented the Marquez brothers Saturday night, needs to move heaven and earth to get Juan Manuel another shot at Chris John as far from John’s home of Indonesia as possible…Finally, a star was (sort of) born in Japan last week. As exhibit number 1,456,789 that boxing is NOT dying, Koki Kameda (12-0, 10 KOs) brought almost 20,000 fans to the Arena in Yokohama to see him ‘win’ the vacant WBA 108 lb. title in a bout with Juan Landeta (20-4-1, 16 KOs). I put ‘win’ in quotes because the reports are true; Kameda didn’t deserve the nod. Through ten rounds, he had a slight lead but he lost the last two big and was dropped in the first for a narrow but earned loss on my card. That said, Kameda has only 12 fights and showed that he will soon be one of the best in the game. Many young stars (and Kameda is rapidly becoming one of the biggest in the world) have had a night like Kameda’s. Riddick Bowe did against Tony Tubbs; Cassius Clay did against Doug Jones; it’s called a learning experience and Kameda learned a load. Two-three fights from now, Kameda vs. WBC champ Brian Viloria could be the biggest fight ever at 108 lbs. but Viloria will have to travel..Say Happy Birthday to me kids. I just got my first gray hair as a note that birthdays are losing their luster.
