Unbeaten Valero taunts Pacman

from the Phil Daily Inquirer HOLLYWOOD—Either he was trying to catch attention or he was really angry at Manny Pacquiao. Knockout artist Edwin Valero, the World Boxing Association super featherweight champion from Venezuela, was seen making nasty hand gestures in the direction of Pacquiao during intervals of the Filipino superstar’s super featherweight clash against Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). The 26-year-old Valero, who boasts a fearsome 23-win, 0-loss record—all by knockout, with the first 18 scored in the first round—was apparently daring Pacquiao to fight him next. Of course, Pacquiao was too preoccupied to mind the Los Angeles-based Valero, whose string of first-round knockouts ended in March 2006, when Mexican Genaro Trazancos lasted the second round. Valero wrested the WBA crown from Vicente Mosquera, whom he beat by 10th-round TKO on Aug. 5, 2006, and has defended the title three times. The animosity between Pacquiao and Valero flared two years ago when the former claimed that Valero’s victims were “mere tricycle drivers.” Filipino fans, who saw Valero make the nasty gestures, retorted by looking at the Venezuelan’s direction and pointing at their head. Valero flunked an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) test in January 2004, effectively banning him from fighting in the United States. He needs to undergo another test in the US to reclaim his license to fight. The only hope for a Valero-Pacquiao then is for the fight to be held in a country mutually acceptable to the protagonists.