My thoughts on a Pacquiao-Valero Showdown

Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38KO), the reigning WBO Welterweight (147 lbs) and pound-for-pound boxing king, is in the middle of his training for The Event at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles under 3-time coach of the year Freddie Roach. His upcoming challenger is the hero from Ghana, now based in New York, Joshua "The Grandmaster" Clottey. Since the fall of the megafight between Pacquiao and former pound-for-pound champ Floyd "Money" Mayweather, Jr. (40-0, 25KO), there are only a few more fighters left that can be considered a good match for Pacquiao. However, one fighter begs to disagree. He is the underrated knockout artist from Venezuela, Edwin "Dinamita" Valero.

Valero (27-0, 27KO), the former WBC Lightweight king (135 lbs), whose last victim was then WBC Interim champAntonio DeMarco (9th round TKO title defense), is claiming he can give Pacquiao a one hell of a fight. Not many know about Valero is since he is not fighting on US grounds because of visa problems. His last fight against DeMarco has been in Mexico.

But can he really beat Pacquiao as what he is saying? I don't quite agree. Basing on his fight with DeMarco, Valero has dynamite punching power, good speed and a big heart. His drawback? DEFENSE. He punches hard but at the same time he leaves himself wide open for counterpunches. Although Pacquiao is not a counterpuncher, he can unload dynamite punches in different angles you don't expect in an exchange. If Valero plans to fight fire with fire against Pacquiao, he doesn't stand a chance. Pacquiao is a genius in offense, and very poor defense will just let Pacquiao eat him alive, just like what happened to Ricky Hatton. Even former WBO Welterweight champ Miguel Cotto can testify Pacquiao's firepower.

I think Valero needs to further prove himself first against better fighters. His plan on moving to light welterweight (140 lbs) seems to be a good idea. He can fight a big time fighter in that division, and if he wins impressively, then he might just arrange a date with the King.