In January of this year, Valero was "stopped" by the potent one-two combination of fate and the New York State Athletic Commission.
A few days before what I thought would be Valero's triumphant U.S. television debut (I was so sure that he'd shine like a super nova that I flew to the frozen Big Apple), a routine MRI examination revealed something that Valero have been hiding from his U.S.-based backers - a head injury and subsequent operation that was the result of a motor cycle accident that occurred four years ago. Valero's boxer's license was suspended in New York in that bitterly cold month and the young man's career has been on ice ever since.
Valero doesn't understand all the controversy. He feels healthy, at the peak of his physical powers, believes that he is more than fit to fight. Valero claims the doctors who operated on his injured cranium in Venezuela cleared him to resume his boxing career years ago and that he's suffered no ill effects since wrapping up his stellar his amateur career and turning pro after the operation. Valero's management, which includes Joel De La Hoya Sr. and Hernandez, is considering pursuing legal action to get the fighter's license off the national suspended list.
Should they go through with that action? Should Valero fight again? Don't ask me. I didn't take my mother's advice and become a lawyer or a doctor.
Dr. Barry Jordan of New York says there's no way Valero should fight again. The kids' brain was shook hard enough in that motor bike accident for there to be evidence of the trauma years later. But Dr. Robert Karns of L.A. says that Valero is at no greater risk of receiving a serious head injury than anyone else who steps into the ring.
According to the medical documents Karns reviewed from Venezuela (and shared with the NYSAC), Valero's head injury did not require surgery. A small blood clot was detected between Valero's scalp and skull - not in his brain. Doctors reportedly gave Valero a choice of either waiting for the clot to go away naturally, which could take six months to a year (and during which time he would not be permitted to engage in any contact activity) or to have an operation to remove it, which would allow him to resume his boxing training in a couple of months. Valero, then Venezuela's top amateur, of course went for the quicker option.
According to the medical records from Venezuela, there was no bleeding or clotting in Valero's brain. However, there had to have been some sort of massive shake up. Valero told me that he crashed his bike into the back of a car that abruptly stopped in front of him. He crashed head first into the back windshield of the vehicle. Valero admits to having been speeding, and without wearing a helmut.
So is Valero at more or less risk of suffering a serious brain injury in the ring than Joe Mesi, who reportedly experienced subdural (in the brain) bleeding after his most recent fight (vs. Vassiliy Jirov this past March)? Mesi, who was knocked down three times in that bout and mentioned having a headache afterward, will have a hard time getting licensed to fight in any state or jurisdiction in the U.S., particularly Las Vegas, where the Jirov fight took place.
Is Valero at more or less risk of ring harm than Marco Antonio Barrera, who had surgery to remove an abnormal growth from his brain seven years ago? Barrera did not suffer a head injury in or out of the ring, but his skull was opened (and later closed with the help of titanium implants) and his brain tissue was cut into, surgically. Since last year's revelation of this operation, Barrera has fought twice - a one-sided stoppage loss to Manny Pacquiao in Texas and a 10-round TKO win over Paulie Ayala in L.A. He will face Erik Morales in Las Vegas next month.
Should Valero be allowed to fight again like Barrera? Again, I don't know.
All I know is what I see in the gym - there, Valero is the man. Correction, he's the monster.
