By Jim Dower: According to Boxing Fanhouse World Boxing Council lightweight champion Edwin Valero (27-0, 27 KO’s) could be facing WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO’s) next. Apparently, Valero’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank is interested in pitting knockout artist Valero with Bradley in his next fight, saying “We’re going to look to see if we can make him and a Timothy Bradley fight.” Valero stopped lightweight Antonio DeMarco in a 10th round retirement on Saturday night in their WBC title fight at the Arena Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Valero’s power was simply too much for DeMarco, as Valero slowly wore the Mexican fighter down round after round with powerful combinations. By the end of the 8th round, DeMarco looked as if he wanted to quit in his corner. However, he was brought out for the 9th round, and ended up taking some monstrous left hands from the southpaw Valero.

After the 9th round, DeMarco retired in his corner rather than go out for the 10th. Valero would have probably stopped him in the next round or two with the big punches he was landing on DeMarco, so it’s for the best that the fight was stopped after the 9th. DeMarco might have gotten seriously hurt by Valero had the fight continued for much longer.

One problem with putting together a Bradley-Valero fight, however, is the question of whether Valero will be able to come to the United States to fight or now. Valero suffered a fractured skull in a motorcycle accident in the past, and this has kept him being able to fight in the U.S. Arum remains optimistic that he’ll be able to get Valero licensed to fight in the United States. If not, it’s unclear whether Bradley’s promoter Gary Shaw will be willing to take him to Mexico to fight Valero.

Shaw says “I don’t know if Valero can come to the United States. We don’t know if we would bring Bradley to Mexico. So it’s just talk right now.”

Valero, 28, is now starting to have problems making the lightweight division limit of 135 pounds, and his promoter Arum wants to move him up in weight to 140 because of that. Bradley, the WBO light welterweight champion, would be the perfect opponent for Valero to face at light welterweight. At 5’6”, Bradley is shorter than the 5’7 ½’ Valero, so this wouldn’t be a fight where Valero would be facing a towering opponent.

However, Bradley isn’t well known to casual boxing fans and it might not be the best opponent for Valero if he wants to build a name for himself in the United States. Perhaps a better option would be World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan, who has a history of having problems against big punchers like Valero.

Khan’s Golden Boy Promotions likely would be very cautious about a fight against a hard puncher like Valero, even though the 5’10” Khan would have a considerable height, reach and speed advantage over Valero. It’s highly unlikely that Golden Boy would want to put Khan in with a big puncher like Valero and wind up having Khan knocked out again.

Arum doesn’t say whether Valero will be matched up with Arum’s most prized fighter in his stable, Manny Pacquiao, if Valero can get by a quality fighter like Bradley. It would seem like the logical move, but Valero might still need to beat one or two other better known fighters to build up a big enough name to create a huge mega fight with Pacquiao.

Unfortunately, there are really few fighters in the light welterweight division popular enough for Valero to build much of a name by beating them. Ricky Hatton appears to be on the brink of retirement and is looking for one last fight against a champion, and it’s unlikely he’d want to tangle with a fighter like Valero. Light welterweight champions Devon Alexander and Juan Urango still lack the star power and it wouldn’t mean much if Valero were to beat them.

Power puncher Marcos Maidana (27-1, 26 KO’s) would be an excellent opponent for Valero, because it would match two knockout artists going at it. But Maidana isn’t well known either, and he currently has a fight scheduled against Victor Cayo already.