Junior middleweight Marques Valle hopes to one day fight for every Puerto Rican when he steps foot in the ring.
Valle returns in a 10-rounder as the co-feature of ProBox TV’s Wednesday Night Fights, on April 24 when he faces Damian Sosa from the ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida.
Valle (10-0, 7 KOs), 25, is a hard-charging power puncher and a proud Puerto Rican with Floridian roots. The older of the two boxing Valle brothers, with his brother Dominic, 23, the goal is to take the next step and successfully move up to 10 rounds against a solid competitor on his way to becoming a Puerto Rican boxing star.
“I picture myself in the ring and every Puerto Rican in the world supporting me,” Valle told BoxingScene. “I am imagining me [winning fights] for them – for all of Puerto Rico. That is what is driving me every day in training.”
The camp has been tough. Valle admitted he has completed 14-15 rounds of hard sparring on several occasions, and Antraveous Ingram has given him consistent work.
Now Valle senses a big opportunity on the horizon but first he must get by Sosa (24-2, 12 KOs).
The Valle brothers are hoping to both hold world titles at the same time and his brother’s recent performance had added motivation for him to keep the ball rolling.
Marques was in his brother’s corner when Dominic picked up a second-round technical stoppage of Angel Vazquez Lupercio.
“I want to take what he has done and capitalize on it, and then he capitalizes on what I have done,” said Marques. “So, we can just keep setting the bar higher for each other and keep rising together.”
We have seen the Serrano Sisters, Amanda, and Cindy, have a run in Puerto Rican boxing. McWilliams and McJoe Arroyo have had a run as lower-weight fighters from Puerto Rico who put together an impressive run and now the Valle brothers are looking to leave their unique mark on Puerto Rican boxing.
Marques is up Wednesday with the biggest test of his career to date.
“[Being world champions] that is what is driving us,” Valle stated. “The teamwork, the support for each other, and putting it on for Puerto Rico. This is what our whole career has been built on.”
