| Meet Team Puerto Rico
While the most prominent members of Team Puerto Rico were expected to shine in their recent nationally televised match-ups and delivered in big ways, one of the most impressive showings was made by a (till then) lesser known member of the squad.
Fighting in the main event of Boricua Invasion II event on June 11 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City and live on ShoBox: The New Generation, featherweight Luis “Orlandito” Del Valle (13-0, 10 KOs) thrilled the crowd and picked up the NABA Featherweight championship by winning an exciting 10-round decision over highly capable Dat Nguyen (17-2, 6 KOs) by unanimous scores of 99-91.
In a breakout performance that will surely move him into the discussion of top prospects in the featherweight and junior featherweight divisions, Del Valle staggered Nguyen badly with a hook in round six and dominated throughout against a brave opponent who had no answers for Del Valle’s work rate, precision or power.
Del Valle says he’s enjoying the attention and prestige of being a member of Team Puerto Rico, the squad created for the island of Puerto Rico’s best young prospects, but knows he must continue to work hard and keep up his end of the bargain.
Looking back on the fight, how would you assess your performance?
I’m feeling great. He was a step up and I proved myself and did what I had to do. Three judges gave me all across the board nine of ten rounds, but it wasn’t easy. We prepared ourselves to fight him. We prepared for a fighter who was going to throw a hundred punches per round. I didn’t take him lightly. I knew we had to bring our A game to the plate and we did.
They say a fighter gets better when he realizes he belongs among the world’s best. Do you think that improvement will be evident in your next performance?
It boosts my confidence big time. I said after the fight we’re moving down to 122 lbs and I sent a message to anybody holding a belt to make sure they hold it tight because I’m on my way. I know I’m going to get here. Whoever has the belt when the time comes is going down.
How did you react to the almost universal surprise expressed at the strength of your performance against Nguyen?
The only people who were surprised were the ones who’ve never seen me in action before. A lot of people didn’t have the chance to watch me fight yet. That night almost everybody saw what I’m all about. The media interviewing me treated me differently than they did before they saw me fight. I was surprised how many were saying I’m world champion caliber. I appreciate and thank them because the word is spreading about me.
What do you think is the key to moving to the next level up in your development?
The key is to train hard, or you won’t be able to throw 75 punches a round. A lot of fighters could throw a hundred punches for one or two rounds, but if you tell them to keep up the pace, that’s 750 punches in ten rounds and not to take anything away from anybody, but there’s only a few people that can do that. I’m glad I was able to pull that off. My strength and conditioning coach, Pensa Garcia, helped me get there.
You’ve given Mr. Garcia tremendous credit for this strong showing. Tell me more about working with him.
He used to train Felix Trinidad back in the day. Everybody that knows Tito was so great because of his conditioning and his power. He’s on board and you could tell from my last fight I was strong with my mouth shut. When I fought Nguyen, we had only been working together for six weeks. I have started training again for my next fight and he reminded me. We only worked together six weeks for that fight and just look at my performance compared to the ones before I started working with him. Imagine how much better it’ll be in a year. All this work I do will add up to the next one and the next one. Two or three more fights and you’ll be unstoppable. The sky is the limit!
Team Puerto Rico Boxing was developed by Shaw, DiBella, Bustillo and Margules in order to group the best young talent on the island on one team.
For more information on Luis Del Valle, visit his Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/orlandoboxing or go to the Team Puerto Rico official website at www.teampuertoricoboxing.com. |
