Report: Edwin Valero moving up to face Lamont Peterson this summer

FanHouse's Lem Satterfield reports that 135-pound titlist Edwin Valero will move up to 140 pounds for a June or July fight against contender Lamont Peterson. Satterfield spoke with Bob Arum, who promotes both men, about the fight:

"I think that this will be another real test for Valero at 140 pounds, which will be a new area for him. ... As far as Peterson is concerned, it's a high profile fight that gets him back into the mix after the loss to Bradley. This is because he lost in the ring, but he didn't lose in the court of public opinion. ...

"We don't know how Valero can handle a really good boxer like Peterson, and we don't know if Valero can handle the extra weight."

The concern is where the fight would be held, as Valero is only licensed in the United States by Texas, and also has a visa issue that stands in the way of him entering the country right now. Arum says he'll talk with the Washington, D.C., commission, indicating that he might be looking to put the fight in D.C., where Peterson is from.

If the fight does happen (and there are a lot of hoops to jump through), it kind of leaves me cold. Peterson (27-1, 13 KO) is good, but was outclassed by Tim Bradley, his first step into the really deep waters. Valero (27-0, 27 KO) showed a lot of skills in dominating Antonio DeMarco, and the win over DeMarco does indicate that Valero isn't going to have a lot of trouble with taller boxers, at least if they don't use their height. DeMarco, at 5'10", had four inches of height on Valero. Peterson is 5'9".

That said, and as good as Valero looked, there is a question of his power translating up in weight. He busted up DeMarco, but didn't put him away clean. DeMarco (like Hector Velazquez before him) elected to quit. That said, there's also the possibility that to improve his overall game, Valero has stopped loading up shots the way he used to, instead opting to work behind an improving jab and box more than he ever did when he was building his legend abroad. And then there's the chance that DeMarco just has a fantastic chin. Velazquez is no slouch in that department either, as four of his six stoppage losses came quite early in his career, and the only guy other than Valero to stop him since 1997 was some guy named Manny Pacquiao.

So the fight doesn't really "wow" me, but Valero is looking for glory. Specifically, he's chasing Manny Pacquiao, however unrealistic that might be. There are better fights at 135 or 140, but who's to say any of those guys want anything to do with him?