FanHouse Edwin Valero

Edwin Valero's record looks too good to be true: He's 24-0, with 24 knockouts, and only five of his opponents have even managed to make it out of the first round.

But Valero says his best fights are still ahead of him. A Venezuelan ranked by Ring Magazine as the No. 1 junior lightweight in the world, Valero will fight Antonio Pitalua for the WBC lightweight title on April 4 live on HBO pay-per-view in Austin, Texas, and he says he believes it will be one of many future fights that end with him having his hand raised and a belt around his waist.

My interview with Valero, which was conducted with a translator and has been edited for clarity, is below.

Before he put the finishing touches on David Diaz, boxing fans started wondering who Manny Pacquiao would fight next. Names like Nate Campbell and Ricky Hatton got tossed around but, as our own MDS mentioned, promoter Bob Arum kept talking about was Edwin Valero. Arum went even further in a telephone interview yesterday. Via Bad Left Hook,

In an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports, Arum said that he was "pretty close to making a deal with (Akihiko) Honda", the well-known Japanese businessman-sportsman who handles Valero, adding "hopefully I will be able to finalize it tomorrow (Monday in the US)"

The fight makes a lot of sense for both men. Valero is having trouble making weight at 130 so moving up is a natural progression while Pacquiao would like to get one defense under his belt before trying to make a fight with seasoned lightweights like Joel Casamayor (if he beats two-time Pacman foe Juan Manuel Marquez) or Campbell.

The only snag could be Valero's failure to gain medical clearance from any state other than Texas. Arum said he'd like to make the fight in Vegas, probably in November, so that's a stumbling block but likely a minor one. Valero's won all 24 of his fights by knockout but has never faced anyone close to Pacquiao. Vanquishing a fighter with that pedigree will only burnish Pacquiao as he moves on to other big fights down the line.

We're less than 12 hours removed from Manny Pacquiao's knockout of David Diaz, and already the question must be asked: Who does Pacquiao fight next? Here are a few possibilities:

Nate Campbell: This would be an excellent fight, with the winner potentially unifying the lightweight title belts of all four sanctioning bodies.

Edwin Valero: Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, says Pacquiao will stay at lightweight to defend the WBC title he won last night, and Valero is the one name he mentioned as a possible opponent.

Joel Casamayor: The Ring Magazine lightweight champ faces Juan Manuel Marquez in September; if he wins he'd be a natural opponent for Pacquiao, but probably not until early next year.

Humberto Soto: On last night's undercard, Soto lost a dubious disqualification after dominating Francisco Lorenzo.

Amir Khan: Has been discussed as a possible opponent, but probably isn't ready for Pacquiao.

Ricky Hatton: It would be a huge fight, if Pacquiao is willing to move up in weight class again. This won't happen in 2008 but could happen in 2009.