The hard punching Valentino won a bronze medal at lightweight at the 2004 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Pula, Croatia.

There he was stopped in the quarterfinals of the Lightweight (60 kg) division by Kazakhstan's eventual bronze medalist Serik Yeleuov.

At the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships he at last made it to the finals beating North Korean Kim Song-Guk but lost to Frankie Gavin.

[1] At the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships he used the absence of Gavin (who had turned professional) and Ugas (who had gone up in weight) and home advantage to win his first major title.

At the 2012 Olympics, he again reached the quarter-finals, losing to eventual bronze medalist Evaldas Petrauskas.