29.12.06 – Exclusive Boxing Confidential Interview by Ricardo Lois: A few weeks back, I ran Part One of my interview with W.B.A. Super Featherweight Champion Edwin Valero. The interview can be read here. Valero returns to the ring on January 3, 2007, in Tokyo, Japan. Promoted by Teiken Promotions, El Inca will be making the first defense of his title against Mexican Michael Lozada..
In Part Two of my exclusive one on one interview with Edwin Valero, the Venezuelan knock-out artist discusses the injury with caused his suspension in the United States, along with his thoughts on one of boxing’s best and possible future opponent Manny Pacquiao.
BC: I ask you this question with all due respect, but you were suspended in the United States due to medical reasons. As I understand it, the suspension was due to a head injury you suffered in a motorcycle accident. You have decided to continue your career, do you ever worry about sustaining a serious injury inside the ring, in relation to your previous head injury?
EV: Never, never, ever have I thought about getting hurt inside the ring. Not even when I was a kid getting started in boxing. After the accident, I have never thought about it either. After the accident, I did not box for a year and a half. I did my time in the Army and then returned in 2002. But, never, I never think about the injury. It does not even cross my mind.
It seems as if others are more concerned about the injury than me. I did not have a brain injury, nothing happened within my brain. What I had done was sort of like a drainage. A vein burst on the side of my scalp and it was drained. What comes up on the tests is an image from the surgery which drained the vein. It was a very simple surgery. I had a Panamanian doctor look over the dozens of tests I have had done, including some in Los Angeles, and he did not see any sort of hematoma or brain damage. Everything was perfect.
BC: Let’s talk about the super featherweight division and one of the biggest stars in boxing right now, Manny Pacquiao. There have been mentions about a fight between you and the Filipino star. With 20 fights as a professional, are you ready for someone as explosive as Manny Pacquiao?
EV: I will be very honest with you, I still need some experience. I have courage, youth, and hunger to spare. I can go into the ring with Manny Pacquiao and anything can happen. But, I do think I need two or three more fights and I will be ready for him. I do need to fight him, before he retires, but I do not want to fight him just for money. I want to win. I have my pride and I want to win that fight. I want to give it everything I have and I want to win.
He is human, he can lose, and he has lost fights. I have never lost a fight.
BC: When Pacquiao was asked about you, as a fighter, he was quoted as saying, “All Valero’s opponents were tricycle drivers.” How does that comment make you feel?
EV: Maybe he did not think about what he was saying. Maybe when they asked him that question he was full of emotion. He must think, “I have beaten the best in Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.” Maybe he got caught up in the moment and does not realize the sort of danger I can bring to him.
I have had other fighters say worse things to me to my face, like the Panamanian Vicente Mosquera. He called me a little woman and told me he was going to kick my [explicit] to my face at the press conference. I did not give him the pleasure of a response. He thought I did not talk because I was afraid. I am not going to argue with him and make a spectacle of myself like [Ricardo] Mayorga. I just want to fight. I go to the press conference because it is my duty as a boxer. I just want to train well, make my money and fight.
Part III Coming Soon
riclois@gmail.com