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Vague Thoughts From A Fan Of Neither Fighter
Very rarely do we have fights that after all the sneak peeks and interviews, in which they start to simmer, boil, and then explode at press conferences do they ever meet up to the hype. Very rarely! They often reach a fever temperature so high that the mercury boils, the tea kettle whistles and we the fans are forced in the end to endure twelve rounds of purely boring posing matches.
Currently, a pen stroke away we have one turning the rumor mills that could blow away an atom bomb. There are all types of things that factor into making these earth shaking, nation riling explosions but in the end it is simply the two combatants.
One is the contender, the other the champ. Outside of those two is the general consensus that the champ is going to be the winner, that the contender is just a step below the champ. Very rarely are the roles reversed. This very well may be one of those situations.
While Manny Pacquiao is the more accomplished fighter, Edwin Valero is the more brutal and determined of the two, as, once again, is the general rule of thumb with said matchups.
The novel on Pac continues to turn into an Epic. His history is all laid out on the table while Edwin “Dynamite” Valero is still a bit of an unknown phenomenon. Let’s get into to his background a bit. Valero began boxing at the ripe young age of 12 years old and dove head first into a seriously brutal amateur record. That record stands at 86 wins, 6 losses and 45 knockouts. Not bad. In Venezuela, he was the amateur champion three years in a row, besting prospect and future hopeful, Francisco Bojado. Valero also took the Central and South American Championships by storm, beating all who stood in his way.
So, maybe there is more to the man than just a bunch of first round knockouts. Let’s talk about that. Many fight fans pick apart a fighters record and Valero’s is under much scrutiny. I have been guilty of doing the same thing; “Oh yeah? 21 men? 21 knockouts? But against whom?
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Have any of you out there ever knocked a man out? Anyone? Well, this writer has, not to boast, and it is not an easy task. The human skull is quite the durable object. Yet Valero goes in, counts the number and goes from 20 to 21 in the matter of a minute and some change. Now really, stop and think about that.
Most of Erik Morales TKO’s are scored between the sixth through tenth rounds, when in top form. Pacquiao’s TKO’s range between the third and sixth when in top form. Now stop and think about this. Valero has scored the knockout 20 times in the first round. 20 fights!
The only smudge on his sparkling KO record came against Vincente Mosquera. He had to deal with knocking him out in the tenth. What did that tell us? He has ability and stamina along with that monster point. Yes folks, Valero’s proven that he can to box the duration if necessary.
Prior to turning pro, on Feb 5, 2001, Valero was in a severe motorcycle accident in which he fractured his skull and had to undergo surgery to remove a blood clot. Later, Valero claimed that his Venezuelan doctor cleared him to fight on Jan 17, 2002 and he then turned pro that July, scoring a first round KO. After posting a record of 11-0 (11 first round knockouts) in the United States, Valero ran into trouble.
In January 2004, he failed an MRI in New York and thus was not allowed to fight in the United States, although he continues to battle outside the country. He will not be allowed to fight in the United States until he clears his medical tests with a state athletic commission.
In 2006, Valero broke a boxing record which stood for 100 years. In 1906, Young Otto set a record when he won 16 straight boxing matches by first round knockout. Edwin Valero won 18 straight fights in the first round. “In my matches, I focus on winning, but I’m not going for knockouts,” said Valero. In March, 2006, Valero’s streak was snapped in his 19th bout, when he stopped his foe in the second.
Since moving to Tokyo, Japan, where he lives with his wife and children, Edwin Valero is currently undefeated with a record of 21 wins with 21 knockouts,
With all his new found fame and inferno of a record, one has to wonder if Pacquiao is either shaking in his boots, relishing the challenger, or if Valero is an unknown afterthought to the Destroyer. Now, in retrospect for us fans, that won’t factor too much in the grand scheme of things when trying to rationally pick a winner but it certainly would for Pacquiao.
The main questions that need be answered are: Is Pac afraid of Valero? Is he on Pac’s radar? Can Valero shock the world in one more first round? Will Valero get careless looking for the knockout and get sparked himself? Only time will tell, but it sure is fun to wonder and predict. The funny thing is that tensions seem higher between fans than they are between the fighters.
Personally, in my opinion, as limited as Valero is on boxing skills, Pacquiao’s aren’t that much better. I’d have to pick Pacquiao by a 12 round unanimous decision. Here’s why; Pac has been in with the current top Mexican fighters of the world. All three of them. That’s a plethora of fists of fury and more equations of the sweet science than one can shake a stick at. He’s primarily destroyed two and eked out a win over another, whom he dropped three times in the first round and then got outboxed by
Now that’s the pessimist in me. This fight could be one of the greatest things to grace our television screen. So, I want to go ahead, coin my good man Jim Lampley and break out the ol’ cliche “This fight is incredible, a monumental occasion, my god what a great fight.”
We can only hope.
