Former Pacquiao prospect Valero culprit of De la Hoya black eye

MANILA, Philippines - Edwin Valero had nothing nice to say to Manny Pacquiao when he was hot on the heels for a shot at Pacquiao. But tables have been turned since Valero was unceremoniously banished from Oscar de la Hoya's training camp. Valero spoke to a handful of reporters on Friday just outside the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas and he said he was rooting for Pacquiao. "Pacquiao will gonna knock Oscar out. I like Pacquiao," Valero, who hails from Venezuela, said through an interpreter. Known as a vicious knockout artist, Valero was being built up by Bob Arum a few years back to go up against Pacquiao. He currently owns a 24-fight winning streak, 19 of those coming by way of a first-round knockout. Valero, 27, taunted Pacquiao endlessly during that time and belittled Pacquiao's chances should their fight have pushed through. On Friday, not only was he singing Pacquiao praises. He was also recalling his unpleasant experience at de la Hoya's Big Bear training. Part of Valero's story? He admitted he was responsible for inflicting de la Hoya a black eye. "I hurt Oscar a lot," Valero revealed. "I got kicked out after what I did. Oscar doesn’t want to spar with me anymore. They told me I couldn’t be there." That black eye has posed a mystery to everyone who has seen it. De la Hoya would later say it was inflicted by welterweight prospect Victor Ortiz. Valero said it was "a lie". Valero added that he was upset at the way de la Hoya treated him and that was the reason why he was "talking that way". He even went on to say that De la Hoya did "not like to work out". Valero, a southpaw like Pacquiao, sparred with De La Hoya for only eight rounds before he was promptly replaced after battering de la Hoya during their training. Despite favoring Pacquiao, Valero said he still looks forward to meeting him in the future, even at a higher weight class. "I've been waiting for years for Pacquiao. We can fight at 140 pounds if he likes to," he said. - GMANews.TV