Will Pacquiao vs. Valero Ever Happen?

After keeping his knockout streak alive with a remarkable stoppage of Antonio de Marco, Venezuelan Edwin Valero, who has been seeking a ring date with Manny Pacquiao, has reportedly expressed his intention to fight one of the best fighters in the junior welterweight division in the person of no less than Timothy Bradley.

Bypassing the likes of Juan Diaz, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Michael Katsidis who are the better fighters in the lightweight division, Valero is out to prove his critics wrong by taking on the American champion Bradley to boost his stock for a possible showdown with Pacman.

Belonging to the same stable, he and Manny Pacquiao can easily be paired by their promoter Bob Arum if indeed there will be much interests in the projected fight between the two knockout artists.

Although many boxing afficionados are saying that fighting Bradley next is sort of a suicidal move on the part of the Venezuelan fighter, Valero will have an opportunity to make a bold statement that he is for real if ever he decks the WBO Jr. Welterweight champion and claims his third title.

And if the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight of the century will never materialize even after Mayweather survives Mosley, then people will be looking to an Edwin Valero-Manny Pacquiao bout as an alternative.

But will this fight ever take place?

Well, I believe this will happen. But for this bout to come into fruition, Valero must hurdle Timothy Bradley and a couple more named boxers in the persons of Juan Manuel Marquez and even Floyd Mayweather Jr. himself.

If Valero beats Bradley, he may call out on Marquez, who will surely accept the challenge of giving the Venezuelan his first loss. The Mexican will be quite a challenge for Valero, and the fight between the two could be an exciting one.

Should Edwin Valero successfully do what Pacquiao and Mayweather failed to do—score a knockout victory—Floyd Mayweather Jr. might be interested to stake his immaculate slate against another fighter with a perfect record.

And if ever a fight between Valero and Mayweather will materialize, people will no doubt demand for an ultimate showdown between Pacquiao, who might be already retired when this happens, and the winner of this match.

An Edwin Valero victory will then entice Manny Pacquiao to come out of retirement and fight the fighter whom Pacquiao once called "tormentors of cab drivers".