ESPN Boxing

Originally Published: April 2, 2009

It's déjà vu all over again for Valero

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By Kieran Mulvaney
Special to ESPN.com
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Edwin Valero has been here before. Almost.

Valero has been training in Southern California for a bout on HBO pay-per-view (Saturday, 9 p.m. ET), his first televised fight on U.S. soil, an introduction to American boxing fans who likely have heard much about the Venezuelan slugger with the 100 percent knockout record but have had little if any opportunity to see him for themselves.

It could almost be January 2004.

Almost, but not quite.

Back then, as now, Valero was something of a cult phenomenon. He had compiled a record of 12-0 with 12 knockouts, with every KO coming in the first round. (He would go on to record 18 consecutive opening-stanza stoppages before Genaro Trazancos punched his way into boxing trivia by lasting into the second frame in March 2006). Boxing writers who had seen the youngster train and spar in Los Angeles gyms marveled at his intensity.

Word spread. Valero seemed poised for the big time when he signed with Golden Boy Promotions. A coming-out party on HBO's Boxing After Dark was planned.

But then came a routine MRI, administered by the athletic commission in New York, site of his next scheduled bout. And just like that, the rocket that had been the fighter's career came tumbling to Earth.

The MRI revealed evidence of brain surgery -- the result, said Valero, of a motorcycle accident in 2001.

"It was very minor," Valero insisted during a recent conference call with reporters. "It was outside of my brain; it wasn't that they took my brain out, washed it and put it back in, and it was nothing like that. It was a vein that erupted, and they took care of it."

[+] Enlarge

John Rivera - Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions Tough assignment: Edwin Valero, left, finds himself in tough against fellow heavy hitter Antonio Pitalua.

Although New York commission officials refused to comment, citing confidentiality issues, one source familiar with the case told ESPN.com that the accident apparently had caused an epidural hematoma -- essentially a blood clot on the surface of the brain, and the same injury that killed actress Natasha Richardson after a seemingly innocuous skiing accident last month. In Valero's case, the clot was removed successfully, and doctors in Venezuela cleared the boxer to continue his career.

New York, however, would not be moved. The commission placed Valero on indefinite medical suspension in 2004; since November 2007, his status has been retroactively listed as "License Denied -- Medical."

The distinction, according to Ron Rizzo, the medical coordinator of the New York athletic commission, is administrative. "We no longer suspend fighters indefinitely for medical reasons," he told ESPN.com. "If a guy comes in and he doesn't meet our requirements, we deny him a license."

Where New York led, other jurisdictions in the United States followed. Valero's boxing future, it seemed, was in severe doubt. As far as the USA was concerned, it appeared nonexistent.

Valero, not unnaturally, was devastated.

"I felt as if my world had come crashing down," he told ESPN.com. "I didn't just feel that way at that moment but for months afterward. I felt like somebody who had just lost a relative."

As his team fought unsuccessfully to have the suspension overturned, Valero went 18 months without a fight. When he returned to the ring, he did so by embarking on a global odyssey, competing in places where his prior medical issues weren't considered an impassable impediment. He fought in Panama, Argentina, Venezuela and France before settling in Japan under the banner of Tokyo-based Teiken Promotions.

With Teiken, he won the WBA super featherweight title in 2006, climbing off the deck to stop Vicente Mosquera in 10 rounds. Valero defended that title four times. But although his career seemed back on track, living in Japan was something of a culture shock at times for the young Venezuelan and his family, and he yearned for a trainer who could provide him with undivided attention.

Valero returned to the United States and ultimately signed with Top Rank. After initially training out of Las Vegas with Kenny Adams, he has returned to Southern California, where he is working with Robert Alcazar, best known as a former trainer of Oscar De La Hoya.

And on Saturday, for the first time since knocking out Roque Cassiani in 2003, Valero will be fighting in the United States, moving up five pounds to battle Mexico-based, Colombia-born veteran Antonio Pitalua for the vacant WBC lightweight strap.

"He's a good fighter," said Valero of Pitalua, who is on a 14-knockout streak of his own. "He's a warrior with a lot of will to win. You can tell he can punch; he has a pretty heavy punch. But unfortunately, I can't help make his dreams come true; I'm not going to allow it."

Pitalua might be overshadowed by his much-hyped opponent, but he has no intention of accepting a supporting role.

"I haven't lost since 2000," he pointed out to reporters. "I've been winning by knockouts since then. I want to know who has he fought that's tough. Yes, he can punch, but can he take a punch? And on April 4, we'll see because I can punch."

That the fight is able to take place in the United States is because, as New York's Rizzo said, "Even if a fighter doesn't meet our requirements, he may meet other states' requirements." Specifically, Valero met the requirements of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which -- satisfied with the results of a series of medical tests -- granted him a license in March 2008.

Valero's people are hopeful that an incident-free fight Saturday will aid their efforts to have their fighter licensed in other states, and that a spectacular performance will improve his chances of securing a marquee matchup against the likes of Manny Pacquiao or Juan Manuel Marquez. But although a big-money bout might be possible, the biggest-money American location for it probably is not.

Although not wanting to comment directly on Valero's situation, Dr. Margaret Goodman, former chairwoman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission Medical Advisory Board, told ESPN.com that Nevada policy is generally not to license a fighter who has suffered a brain bleed of any kind.

“

After that kind of injury, there is almost always scarring on the brain's surface that could predispose any fighter to seizures and further damage if traumatized. The problem then is that it is tough to tell if a fighter has just been knocked down and dazed or has suffered something much more dangerous.

” -- Dr. Margaret Goodman, on the dangers of fighting after suffering a brain bleed

"After that kind of injury, there is almost always scarring on the brain's surface that could predispose any fighter to seizures and further damage if traumatized," she said. "The problem then is that it is tough to tell if a fighter has just been knocked down and dazed or has suffered something much more dangerous."

Valero acknowledges the inherent dangers of his chosen craft. "It could happen to any of us," he said when questioned about the risk of injury. But, he insisted, "I am at no more risk than any other fighter."

When Valero was training for his planned HBO debut five years ago, the only questions were about the damage his heavy hands could do to others and about just how great he could be. Those questions are asked still, and as long as he is young and keeps winning, they are the ones that will be asked most loudly. But there are other questions now, hovering in the background at present but unlikely to disappear completely and almost certain to be raised with greater urgency the moment his skills are thought to be in decline or his defense is perceived to have diminished.

So maybe, despite the return to Southern California, despite the renewed optimism, despite the success and the fanfare, things aren't quite the same as January 2004 after all.

Almost, but not quite.

Kieran Mulvaney covers boxing for ESPN.com and Reuters.