Edwin Valero: The New Manny Pacquiao

By Geno McGahee

At 31, with fifty-two fights, the career of Manny Pacquiao may be at its tail end. The explosive southpaw will be leaving some big shoes to fill, but there is a lightweight that brings many of the same things to the ring. Edwin Valero, 27-0, 27 KO’s, holds the WBC Lightweight Championship, and has not found any use for the judges yet in his career. Last Saturday, he stepped up to the biggest challenge of his career, facing the young and hungry contender, Antonio DeMarco, in a defense of his title. DeMarco came into the fight with only one defeat on his record and had a recent spree of good wins. He was hungry and tough and if Valero was a fraud, he would have exposed it. Valero proved that he was not a fraud.

Out of the 27 knockout wins, 19 of them were inside of the very first round. The majority of his reputation was built on his exposure on youtube, the only way that the boxing fans in the states could see him. His lack of exposure in the United States is due to his ineligibility to fight within its borders. He cannot get medically cleared because of a motorcycle accident he had which led to surgery and the removal of a blood clot. There is the concern that a punch could hurt him more so than any other boxer that hasn’t had this sort of issue, but money is not only talking at this point, it’s screaming.

Showtime was on hand and broadcasted the Valero-DeMarco showdown, which took place in Mexico, and the undefeated champion was all that people that were clamoring about him have claimed, and more. He is a big puncher, stunning DeMarco on several occasions, but he also presents good defense, dodging and swaying away from punches, the ability to put punches together, and a big heart. In the second round, he was elbowed, opening a giant gash on his forehead. He forged on and continued to fight, when he could have probably had it stopped and held onto his title without much more fuss, but he understood the importance of the occasion and battered DeMarco into submission.

Where does Valero go from here? The lightweight division has plenty to work with. There’s Juan Manuel Marquez, the man that came closest to beating Manny Pacquiao in recent times and on two occasions. It would be a high profile fight and a big test for Valero. How would he do against the technically sound and very tough Marquez?

Ali Funeka, the very tall and very strong fighter that was robbed in his two defeats would be a great challenge for Valero too. How would he overcome the incredible height? It’s another fight that would get Valero into an HBO or Showtime showcase.

The powerful Michael Katsidis would be a wild encounter, Marco Antonio Barrera is still hanging around, and Joan Guzman are all possible challenges that would put Valero back into the public’s eye. With the names in and around the lightweight division, Valero has a big chance to become a big attraction and PPV star, following the same path that Filipino superstar, Manny Pacquiao. When you compare Valero and Pacquiao, you can’t help but see the similarities. They are both fearless southpaws that come forward seeking the knockout from the opening bell on. In fact, Valero was once considered as an opponent for Manny, but it was too much risk, not enough reward, and getting Valero cleared in the states where most big fights take place would have proven difficult to say the least.

I don’t think that the ban will last forever with Valero, especially when the demand grows. Valero has stated that he can pass a medical test and he will have a chance to prove it in the near future. He is one of the, if not the, most exciting fighters in the game today, and I look forward to his continued development and future showdowns with some of the bigger names out there in the lightweight division.

Antonio Margarito: Will he Return to the Ring?

The “Hands of Plaster” Antonio Margarito, 37-6, 27 KO’s, the former WBA Welterweight Champion, is about to be given the news. Will he be allowed to return to the ring after his hand wraps were exposed prior to his encounter with Shane Mosley in January of 2009? Team Mosley noticed something fishy about the wrapping of Margarito’s hands and when they were sent to the lab to be analyzed, it came back that he was using plaster of Paris to make his fists basically bricks packed into the boxing gloves.

Bob Arum, the Promoter of Margarito, came out strong when his fighter was first banned, stating that he was only banned because he was Mexican and had he been white, he would have not been prevented from fighting. And people say Don King is scum.

The fact is that Margarito cheated and it’s fair to say that he has done this for some time, including his Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron wins. Against Mosley, when the playing field was even, he was very ineffective and it’s fair to say that he would have lost many more of his bouts had he not loaded his gloves.

Should Margarito be re-instated? No. They need to ban this menace for life. If they ban Luis Resto for life, why should Margarito be any different? What he did was the basic equivalent. He knew he could have killed his opponent, but had the money signs in his eyes and found that more important than the health of his opposition. We don’t need a person with that attitude and that lack of morals involved in boxing.

Unfortunately, my guess is that he will be back in the ring. Money talks and boxing is a dirty sport where guys like Margarito flourish and he has some big guns behind him to make the return easier. Hopefully, the networks will ignore his return and the boxers that face off with him take every precaution to ensure that he doesn’t load his gloves again.