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Analysis of Valero's fight by his manager and Doug Fischer plus his next moves.
http://www.maxboxing.com/Fischer/Fischer090606.asp
So what does this victory mean for the now 20-0 (20) Valero?
Graham Houston’s pre-fight analysis of Mosquera-Valero on his website www.fightwriter.com posed these questions before the bout:
“The question marks are obvious: Will Valero’s stamina hold up if he has to go more than a few rounds? Will he get discouraged if Mosquera survives the early rounds and fires back? Can Valero take a punch as well as give one? All of these questions are likely to be answered on Saturday.”
The questions were answered on Aug. 5th, and with the victory Valero is a newly minted major world title holder, which in reality means that he now can be considered a legitimate 130-pound contender. We can all drop the “Urban Legend” tag; the young man is for real.
The Ring magazine, which I’m told will honor Valero as “Fighter of the Month” in their next issue, now ranks him no. 6 among junior lightweights, behind Manny Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Jorge Barrios and Rocky Juarez.
It’s a fair placement as those six fighters have accomplished more than the 24-year-old Venezuelan, who still only has 30 rounds of pro experience under his belt. However, with his WBA title, his exciting style and his name now among the other contenders of the 130-pound division, Valero will be mentioned by at least hardcore fans when top matchups in the junior lightweight division are discussed.
However, if he is to have a real shot at beating any of those fighters The Ring ranks above him, there needs to be a few changes with his training situation, says Valero’s former trainer Joe Hernandez, who flew to Panama to work the corner of his former pupil.
“Going into the fight I overestimated Valero’s power and technique and I underestimated Mosquera’s talent and heart,” said Hernandez. “Valero won that fight on conditioning.”
Hernandez says he was both impressed and disappointed in the manner in which Valero took the title.
“I can’t take anything away from the heart of Valero,” he said. “He’s got more heart than most fighters, but he’s regressed so much in his boxing technique and his skills that he’s almost the same level he was as an amateur.
“There was no consistent jab from him when he fought Mosquera, he just pawed with it and tried to use it as a measuring stick for his left. He kept his left hand low the entire night and he paid for it. Mosquera hit him with almost every right hand he threw.
“And there was no lateral movement from Valero. He’s become a straight-up fighter who stands right in front of his opponent and lets his hands go.
“It’s such a shame. It’s so sad, because he’s not using his God-given talent. He’s a smart young man. He can box. He’s got the moves of a dancer. He’s incredibly light on his feet. The problem now is that he calls all the shots with his Venezuelan team. He’s the boss in the gym. He listens to no one. He trains himself.
“If he stays in Venezuela he will go down as a strong regional title holder. He’ll be a guy who beats up on second-rate fighters in Venezuela and Japan. That’s all. He needs a teacher, someone he trusts who can show him or remind him to do all the things he’s stopped doing. He’s a good listener, he’s a good student; he just needs someone to teach him.
“If he can find that trainer, he can be more than just a title holder. He can be a superstar.”
THE FUTURE
So what’s up with Valero? Where does the young man go from here?
For now, he’s taking a well-deserved vacation with his family in Venezuela.
Valero was slated to return to action on Nov. 12th in Tokyo (site of the HQ and home gym of Valero’s promotional company Teiken), but he asked to have his first defense pushed back to December.
The WBA’s no. 4 130-pound contender, Nobuhito Honmo, turned down the chance to challenge Valero for the world title, according to Mendoza Jr. It looks like his next opponent will be Takehiro Shimada, Japan’s 35-year-old lightweight champ.
Shimada is probably just what the doctor ordered for Valero after the grueling 10 rounds he went with Mosquera. Shimada, 19-3-1 (12), is experienced, but doesn’t’ appear to be an offensive threat. The Japanese veteran, who has gone unbeaten in his last 12 bouts, should give Valero a few rounds of work, having never been stopped in a professional bout.
And rounds is what “El Inca” needs in order to mature as a pro fighter.
According to both Hernandez and Mendoza, the Mosquera fight served as a wake-up call for Valero. He, and his promoter Akihiko Honda, realize that he needs to get out of Venezuela when training and he needs an experienced, world-class trainer to teach and guide him.
Valero plans to start for his December title defense in Japan in early to mid-October and then move his camp to the U.S. in the month of November for the serious portion of his preparation. Areas of the U.S. where Valero is considering setting up his camp include Southern California, Las Vegas and Miami.
After the December defense, Honda plans to try to bring his KO Artist back to the U.S. to ply his brutal craft. The influential Japanese promoter would like to partner up with Golden Boy Promotions, who promoted Valero during his brief stint in the States in ’03 and ’04.
A renewed relationship with Golden Boy makes sense in many areas, primarily because it would aid in his visa renewal for the U.S., but also because the company enjoys a cozy relationship with HBO, the network with by far the biggest checkbook in the sport, and the L.A.-based promoters have potential marquee opponents on their client roster, including Barrera, Barrios, Joan Guzman and recent acquisition Juan Manuel Marquez.
However, in order for those plans to play out, Honda has to deal with Valero’s well-publicized U.S. medical suspension, stemming from a failed MRI exam that he took in New York in January of ’04. Honda has hired an attorney and a brought on a medical specialist to appeal the New York Athletic Commission’s suspension, which has to be honored by other U.S. jurisdictions.
In the meantime, I’ve been told Team Valero plans to take the same route of heavyweight Joe Mesi, whose boxer’s license was indefinitely suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in ’04 after he suffered at least two subdural hematomas during a bout with Vassiliy Jirov.
Mesi’s suspension was lifted when his Nevada boxing license expired at the end of 2005. The Buffalo-based heavyweight was unable to renew the license in that state due to the concerns of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, but he was able to receive a license by the Puerto Rican Boxing Commission this past February. After sitting out ’05, Mesi made his ring return in Puerto Rico with an eight-round decision over Ron Bellamy in April of this year. Mesi has since fought in Canada and Arkansas and is scheduled to fight in Michigan this month.
Valero, whose California license expired last year, plans to apply for a license in Puerto Rico in early ’07. Whether or not the Puerto Rican boxing commission will clear him to fight as the boxing authorities of Venezuela, Panama, Argentina, Japan and France have in the past year and a half remains to be seen.
For now hardcore internet fight fans are not fixated on what Valero may or may not do in the future. They’re enjoying what he just did.
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Originally Posted by El Gamo
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