Prediction: Look for Valero to fight Pacquiao by early 2011
February 10th, 2010
By Sean McDaniel: If you look at all the attention that has been made of World Boxing Council lightweight champion Edwin Valero (27-0, 27 KO’s) since his knockout win last week against Antonio DeMarco, it’s pretty clear that it’s only a matter of time before he’s matched up with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. What makes it even more likely to occur in the very near future is that both fighters are promoted by Top Rank Promotions, meaning that lining up a fight between them will be quite simple.
I have a feeling with as much money that they both stand to make in the fight, they will probably have little problems negotiating the fight next time around and fix the problem that was their sticking point during the first go around with the negotiations. But after that, there’s really no one else for Pacquiao. Shane Mosley will have likely been beaten already by Mayweather, and there’s really no one else to fight at welterweight beyond Mayweather and Mosley.
I know Bob Arum would like to set up a match with Antonio Margarito and Pacquiao, but I don’t see that happening. More than likely, I’m thinking that Top Rank will put Valero in the fast lane for a fight against Pacquiao. I’m sure they’d like to build up Valero’s name more before putting him in with Pacquiao, but with Manny likely to be hanging up the gloves shortly, Arum doesn’t have a lot of time to build up Valero’s status in the U.S. like he would probably want to do.
My guess is that Top Rank and Arum will match Valero up with Humberto Soto next. Soto is a Top Rank fighter, so this helps them out at the same time it gives Soto and Valero a fight to display their talent. Soto is a great fighter, but he doesn’t have the kind of power that Valero possesses. I see Valero pinning Soto against the ropes and battering him into submission over six or seven rounds.
Following that fight, we will likely see a long build up for a fight between Valero and Pacquiao for early 2011. This will be a huge fight, because it will draw in a lot of the Hispanic fans from the U.S. and South America who will be tuning in to see it. It might not do as well as Mayweather-Pacquiao, but I can see it doing better than Pacquiao’s fights against Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. I give Valero a good chance to beat Pacquiao. He’s got the skills, the power and punches from the southpaw stance like Pacquiao.
Tags: 31 Responses to “Prediction: Look for Valero to fight Pacquiao by early 2011”
Leave a Reply
please use above banner to link back to us!
Pacquiao/Valero would be a better fight than Pacquiao/Mayweather. Pacquiao/Valero would be a war. Pacquiao/Mayweather would be a 50m dash. Pacquiao will be chasing Mayweather and it’s going to be boring.
Gees, everybody wants to fight Pacquiao. And its just because of the huge payday. Next thing you know, for $50 Million, even the klitschko brothers would say i want to fight Pacquiao. Unbelievable.
Valero, you are damn good but against the one you wants, its not gonna work. You needs a lot of training and needs to hone your skill. Forget Pacquiao for now, someday you can be as big as him too, Just wait for your turn and improve your skills.
You know that Valero got his visa revoked right? that’s why he fought DeMarco in Mexico. And it’s hard for him to get licensed in the States do to a head injury he got during a motorcycle accident. dont see this fight happening at all and by the time he does start fighting in the states, pacman will be retired…. my opinion
I actually see Valero losing to Timothy Bradley if that fight is made.He can box and looked great against DeMarco but DeMarco never opened up and actually fought back.A fighter like Juan Manuel Marquez would have pressed forward more and counter punched.He should fight a good lightweight,then Bradley.By then if he’s proven himself,he should then fight Manny.
Wont happen
While Valero is good, he’s definitely not good enough! He obviously has k.o. power, but his game has too many holes that Manny would expose. I’m a fan of both fighters, however, I’m not certain that this is a fight I really want to view.
every boxer dreams is to fight pacman. why? because he is the most popular, the best, and the king of the ring.did some body think to fight kfc mayweather? they will be bullied for sure.
Vaero is vety exciting.Perhaps he should hone his skills before considering a fight against Manny
i like valero but i dont see him as having the speed of pacqiuao…. still the fight should definatly happen but i see pacman winning by decision or late stoppage.
what about gamboa… hes only an inche smaller than pacman! is there a chance he could move up a couple of weight classes and fight these boys… if you had a colection of fighjters at 135 like valero pacman and gamboa that wud be exciting!
Why would Arum waste time and money, pitting Pacquiao against Valero. Hard-core boxing fans wouldn’t be impressed with this! Pacman facing a brawler, who hasn’t even faced a legit top-five boxer, at either 130 or 135. While Pacquiao only has a few fights left in him, wouldn’t he be looking to face the winner of Mosley -Mayweather (as they’re seen as the best in the division).
Fighting an untested lightweight, only tarnishes Pacquaio’s legacy, which I’m sure, is really the driving force, behind his late push towards greatness.
At least, Valero has big balls. AND HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT THE “0″. Unlike PBF who is too protective of his “0″ and only wishes to fight similar class as that of Marquez.
Bob Arum also knows that Manny Pacquiao “Fighter of the Decade” vs Edwen Valero “KNOCKOUT ARTEST” is gonna be a million dollar fight. ACTION FIGHT that fans want.
Valero has no chance against Pacman. It would be a dangerous decision and move to fight the Pacman. Pacman is not a joke and he is always to kill or punish his opponent. Bob will save his fighter like Valero after Pacman retired. Bob knows Valero would be defeated by Pacman that is why Bob will never sacrifice Valero.
Valero is good at 135lbs. but can he put on an additional 12 lbs and still maintain his speed, power and stamina as Pacman did? If he can’t like what happened to JMM when he bulked up to fight Floyd, then he better remain at 135 or at most go up to 140. If he is in a hurry to fight Pacman, like one year from now, he will most likely be KO’d badly and may just become another Hatton.
who is floyd mayweather anyway? i never heard of him
Fall in line, Floyd! You’re at the end of the queue now
Manny Pacquiao vs Edwen Valero
gonna be a BIG PPV HIT. Manny Pacquiaos STAR POWER is HUGE ENOUGH to make this FIGHT a 1 mil and above PPV HIT. Just like how we expected this March 13 Fight agains Clottey.
Manny will forget Mayweather. Nobody really want to watch Floyd Mayweather fights anymore for the fact that HE IS #1 BORING Fraud Xylocaine Fighter of the Decade. After witnessing Manny Pacquiaos Exciting and Entertaining round1 to round12 ACTION PACK, nobody will go back on Floyds BORING fights. The only reason Floyd is hype up again was bcoz we thought he is going to MAN UP and Fight Manny WITHOUT EXCUSES, again Floyd true color has comeout and he let us down again. Manny will fight talented Fighters as the “Orginal Fighter of the Decade”, IGNORING Mayweather Clans(Floyd should go back to RETIREMENT). We knows HOW BIG Manny Pacquiaos INTERNATIONAL FAN BASE, ENOUGH TO PUT BOXING BACK IN THE MAINSTREAM.
Valero would most likely KO Pacman and send him into retirement. I can’t wait to see that happen. All of the steroids in the world won’t help Pacman against Valero.
There is no way Valero will fight Manny at all….at least at this moment. Valero can’t be exposed to an elite fighter, let alone the king of P4P fighter in the world. Arum is grooming him as the heir apparent when Manny retires. If Valero really wants to fight Manny, it may endanger his confidence when he goes up against the best in the world. Manny would quickly beat him and Valero won’t last no more than 5 rounds at best. Valero is way too unpolished. He needs a better trainer to take him to the next level because his current may have taken him as far as he could. Calling Freddie Roach.
i hope not,valero might end up the one retiring!
I like Valero as a boxer,as a matter of fact, he even has a better record than Pacman in terms of KO percentage, but matching him with Pacman now will surely KILL Valero, he needs to be put up first against top lightweights like JMM, Michael Katsidis, Bradley & Ali Funeka, if he gets past these guys then I think he can have a chance to get into the ring with Pacman, but he also needs to improve his footwork and speed or else I see him kissing the canvas early in the fight. But on top of things, Pacman will soon hang his gloves and concentrate on politics (that’s “IF” he ever wins the bid) also, Valero is another TOP RANK soldier and Bob Arum is trying to build up Valero’s name so I don’t think Bob Arum will feed Valero to a Spitfire cannon like Pacman.
Valero will still have to overcome his US visa and US licensing problems before he can face Pacquiao on U.S. soil. But if a Pacquiao-Valero fight really needs to happen – maybe Mexico should host it, and I’ll just be content to watch it on PPV. I definitely would want a Pacquiao vs. Valero fight, and I’m confident Manny will be able to handle the Venezuelan. For all I know, Pac just might have Roberto Duran’s durability. I’d like Pacquiao to hang around as Welterweight champ for a while, for a good reason: the last time a Filipino was Welterweight champ was in 1959, when Rocky Kalingo beat undefeated Florentino Fernandez of Cuba via 1st round knockout in Caracas, Venezuela, Nov., 1959. Fernandez asked for a rematch, which was held in Havana in Dec., 1959 – 1 week before Dictator Batista’s regime was overthrown by Fidel. “Rocky” lost in the rematch, no big thanks to the Cuban Mafia! So please, Manny, hang on as Champ as long as you can – por la Patria Adorada.
This could be Pacquiao’s NEXT opponent. I believe that Pacquiao will probably fight one more tune-up match before he fights Mayweather. I think Valero is being hyped up more than is deserving. Personally, I don’t see Valero as having much of a chance against Pacquiao. Yes, Valero has won all his fights by knockout by he was landing clean, effective, power shots for 8 rounds before he got DeMarco out. Manny has one punch knockout power. Manny also is just more skilled at boxing, moving in and out, throwing combinations and great form on his punches. Valero seems a little sloppy with his punches, some of them appear to be a little loopy and an elite fighter would expose that imperfection.
I can only see this happening before Mayweather, because I think that Mayweather will win an easy 12 round decision, probably a shutout, and might even knock Manny out with one of his patented counter-left hooks. After that Manny will still be a draw, but not nearly as many people will be willing to pay $50 to see him fight. Manny has mentioned he will probably retire after one to three more fights. Top Rank wants as much money out of Manny as they can get. And that means getting as many easy wins for Manny as possible before putting him in with Mayweather. Now, I don’t mean Valero is a push-over, but he’s still a raw talent and not on the same level as Manny Pacquiao is.
I think this writer is correct. If Pacman loses to Clottey, Mayweather/Mosley winner will still want a piece of the Pacman. If Pacman loses again to one of them, it will prove he’s not a true welterweight unless its a catchweight fight. If you can’t compete at 147 where every welterweight legend has fought, it is my opinion he shouldn’t fight there. Its very hypocritical. To call yourself a champion in a division where you need fighters to come under the weightlimit is ludacris. Why was ODH required to only make the legitimate welterweight limit at 147, but made Cotto make a catchweight? 140 or 147…no more catchweights please.
This will send him back to 140 by next year, where Valero will be boss after beating two elite 140lb fighters this year. Bradley first, then possibly Amir Khan after he beats Marquez.
Good matchup in Paquiao vs Valero. Two southpaws who fight exactly the same. It is a pickem war of a fight, toss up. Pacquiao wins and rules the 140lb division where he should be till he retires.
Valero is 24 wins 24 KNOCKOUTS and 0 losses….i think he has the RESUME that deserve the respect to FIGHT the GREATEST of todays Decade Legendary Manny Pacquiao. I’m one of the fans who will SUPPORT this FIGHT. Make it HAPPEN!!!!
first of all valero need to beat someone, second, the only fight left out there for pacquiao is mayweahter. i know pacquiao nut huggers like to think that they don’t need mayweather but the truth is they do. pacquiao cannot be considered the best of his generation if he don’t get past mayweather. it really is a legacy defining fight, one that will dectate how the history books will be written. take the stupid tests and fight.
i cant stand top rank, bob arum dont care about the fight fans, he’d rather milk his fighters than put out the best fights (i.e when will he let juanma get his ass whopped by gamboa?).
his talk of puting pacquiao with margarito is a disgrace too all intelligent boxing fans.
It will not happen. Valero will have 2 losses by 2012. Pacquiao will be campaining to become the next president of the Philippines-
2 things not considered
Valero must win 2 fights
Pacquiao must not get into any wars with Clottey, SSM/PBF, too much beating and he can be done
NOT ONLY THAT what if he wins in his political aspirations, so long WBC
Pacquiao has to fight Mayweather and/or Mosley before he even touches Valero. Valero’s good but he swings way too wide, Pacquiao would abuse him. Valero’s style is perfectly suited for Pac, too lopsided. He needs a couple of fights at 140lb to test his ability. Word is he’s going to go against Bradley right away, bad choice. IMO good fighter, not great, a bit overhyped.
@Author
My only caution would be that we have to see how Valero handles the next two or three fights FIRST, before inducting him into the Hall of Fame.
If he can pull off a big win over someone like Bradley, and perhaps another top WW (Berto, Ward, Kirkland, K. Mitchell, Ward), and PERHAPS even fight the loser of Mayweather/Mosley (yeah, I said it!), only THEN can we fast-track a match up with Manny… or Floyd (my two predictions for P4P king when Valero gets to that next level).
…ryan