It will be a battle of knockout kings when newly-crowned WBC lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao defends his title for the first time on November 8 against WBA superfeatherweight boss Edwin Valero of Venezuela.Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, has told Philboxing.com that he is close to finalizing a deal on Tuesday that would pit Pacquiao against the heavy-hitting Valero possibly in Texas or Las Vegas. In the same interview, Arum said he was “pretty close to making a deal with (Akihiko) Honda,” the Japanese promoter who handles the Venezuelan knockout star, adding “hopefully I will be able to finalize it tomorrow (Monday in the US.)” Arum also noted that he and Honda are in a position to close the deal. Arum, when asked as to Pacquiao's next opponent, told the media in an interview moments after Pacquiao's win over David Diaz that “there's a phenomenal kid who has won every single fight by knockout” referring to Edwin Valero. The southpaw Valero (24-0, 24 KO's) won the WBA superfeatherweight title with a 10th-round knockout over Vicente Mosquera of Panama in 2006. Since then, he has defended the title four times via knockout, and has even openly challenged Pacquiao to a fight. Pacquiao (47-3-2, 36 KO's) became the first Asian fighter to win four world titles in four different divisions, and is now considered as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. | 
