PHOENIX, AZ (October 16, 2009) Rafael Valenzuela, TKO Boxing’s top junior featherweight prospect will battle Puerto Rican Luis Angel Paneto this Saturday night, October 17th, in the feature attraction bout at Phoenix Rising, an evening of world class professional boxing at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona..
For the 23 year old native of Phoenix, this will be Valenzuela’s first hometown bout in four years. Since turning professional five years ago, he has amassed an impressive record of 13-1-0 (6KO’s).
Saturday night will be Valenzuela’s fourth start this year, having kicked off the 2009 campaign with a stunning one punch stoppage of Roberto DaLuz on January 23rd in Las Vegas. He followed that up with an eight round decision win over Yogli Herrera on February 14th in Reno, Nevada and a shut out decision over Jose Garcia Bernal on May 28th in Houston Texas .
A native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, the 20 year old Paneto brings a record of 4-6-2 (2KO’s) into the battle with Valenzuela. Paneto impressively won his first three bouts this year over prospects Pedro Hernandez, Josean Figueroa and Angel Lopez.
As expected, Valenzuela is thrilled to be fighting in his hometown. “Fighting at home means so much to me. It will be great to have the support in person of my friends and family” said Valenzuela.
“I haven’t seen Paneto fight but I’m very prepared for whatever he tries. My dad, Rafael Sr. and I have worked on so much over the last three months in the gym that I’m very confident going into this bout.
In regards to his future fights, Valenzuela wisely cautioned one fight at a time. “I need to beat Paneto first, then I’ll think about bigger fights. I’m very happy with the job TKO Boxing has done since I signed with them and I’m confident they’ll have something bigger for me down the line.”
Valenzuela is guided by manager Cameron Dunkin who also handles the careers of world champions Kelly Pavlik, Steven Luevano and Nonito Donaire.