|
Philippines, 11 Jun 2026 |
Home >> News |  |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
Humberto Soto's Cry: Barrera Runs From Me, WBC Mistreats Me By Ricardo Lois PhilBoxing.com Sun, 14 Jan 2007 MEXICO CITY- -- Humberto Soto is an excellent case study for the injustices professional boxing organizations dish out to fighters. On August 20, 2005, Soto entered the ring against then rising star Rocky Juarez on HBO with the WBC interim featherweight title at stake. Twelve rounds later, Juarez was awarded his first loss at the hands of the Los Mochis, Mexico native, as Soto clearly outclassed Juarez. For his loss, Juarez was rewarded with two fights against Marco Antonio Barrera. What about Soto? Sixteen months later Soto has followed up the Juarez fight with three low profile bouts, two of them in Mexico and none of them on television, against Ulises Duarte, Oscar Leon, and Ivan Valle. Though he won the WBC interim title against Juarez, he never received an opportunity at the regular championship and instead moved up to super featherweight where he won a WBC elimination bout against Valle. "I am very upset. I beat Rocky and he got the big fights. The top fighters have stalled my career, they want to fight easier opponents." said Soto. During the WBC's 2006 convention in Croatia, it was ruled that Soto would be the number 2 contender to Barrera. Since then, a bout between Barrera and Manny Pacquiao (#1 contender) has not been produced and instead Barrera has been green lighted by the WBC to fight Marquez on March 17. Today, Soto finds himself in Mexico City, with manager, Antonio Lozada, having met with WBC boss Jose Sulaiman Thursday night, wondering what he must to do get a crack at a WBC championship or high profile fight. "I have heard that Barrera wants nothing to do with me in the ring," said Soto, "If that is true, fine, let him drop the championship and let me fight for it. Soto continued to say, "I am the number two contender and instead, Barrera has been given permission to fight Marquez. If he cannot fight Pacquiao, I am the rightful contender." Sadly, this is not a common scenario in boxing. Sometimes it is more, who you know outside the ring, than what you know inside the ring. Soto who has already moved up from featherweight from super featherweight, does not rule out a move to the 130 pound division. "If nobody wants to fight me at super featherweight, I might have to move up and look for a championship fight at 130 pounds. I have talked about it with my team, and if that is where I can find a championship fight, that is where I am going" said Soto Late 2006, Soto signed with Top Rank, the company, who for now, controls Manny Pacquiao's career. Though it looks as if Pacquiao will fight Korea's In Jin Chi next, Soto makes himself available for 2007. "That is what I am waiting for, a big fight, and if everything goes well, maybe I can get a fight with Manny before the year is over," said Soto. Maybe a fight with Manny comes, maybe a move to 130 pounds will resolve his issues, but for now, Soto believes he has been mistreated by the WBC. riclois@gmail.com Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ricardo Lois.  |
|
|
PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general. Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com |
PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
developed and maintained by dong secuya © 2026 philboxing.com. |
