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It will be a battle of knockout kings when newly-crowned WBC lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao defends his title for the first time on November 8 against WBA superfeatherweight boss Edwin Valero of Venezuela.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, has told Philboxing.com that he is close to finalizing a deal on Tuesday that would pit Pacquiao against the heavy-hitting Valero possibly in Texas or Las Vegas.
In the same interview, Arum said he was ?pretty close to making a deal with (Akihiko) Honda,? the Japanese promoter who handles the Venezuelan knockout star, adding ?hopefully I will be able to finalize it tomorrow (Monday in the US.)? Arum also noted that he and Honda are in a position to close the deal.
Arum, when asked as to Pacquiao's next opponent, told the media in an interview moments after Pacquiao's win over David Diaz that ?there's a phenomenal kid who has won every single fight by knockout? referring to Edwin Valero.
The southpaw Valero (24-0, 24 KO's) won the WBA superfeatherweight title with a 10th-round knockout over Vicente Mosquera of Panama in 2006.
Since then, he has defended the title four times via knockout, and has even openly challenged Pacquiao to a fight.
Pacquiao (47-3-2, 36 KO's) became the first Asian fighter to win four world titles in four different divisions, and is now considered as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
