Valero successfully defended his WBC lightweight title with a Pacquiao-esque performance against WBC interim titleholder Antonio DeMarco. Despite suffering a huge, bloody gash on his forehead from an accidental elbow in the second round, Valero maintained his poise and outhustled and outboxed the taller DeMarco in every round - throwing flurries of punches to DeMarco's single jabs.
There were no knockdowns but, after nine one-sided rounds, DeMarco's corner wisely elected to stop the fight in order to save their fighter from further punishment in what had become an unwinnable fight. At the time of the stoppage, Valero was ahead 89-81 on the scorecards of all three judges.
Valero, like every other fighter seeking a major payday between 135 and 154 pounds, wants a fight with Manny Pacquiao. The weight differential, however, is just one of the roadblocks standing in the way of a such a bout. Valero suffered a fractured skull in a Feb. 2001 motorcycle accident and required surgery to remove a blood clot. As a result, he later failed a pre-fight exam in New York and was suspended indefinitely.
After continuing to fight overseas, Valero was finally licensed to fight in Texas last year. End of story, right? Wrong! Valero has since been denied a U.S. visa because of a drunk-driving charge ... though he believes he was turned down due to his strong support for Venezuela's U.S.-bashing President Hugo Chavez.
In addition to all of his out-of-the-ring drama, Valero is now on the short list of the sport's must-see fighters and will not be lacking for potential opponents. Juan Manuel Marquez, Michael Katsidis, Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton all loom as options that make a fight fan's mouth water.
