AFTER close to a year of layoff and suffering back-to-back setbacks in world title fights, Rocky Fuentes gets a chance to put himself back on track when he returns to the ring on Nov. 28 in the undercard of Pinoy Pride 34 – “Back with a Vengeance” at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City.
Fuentes takes on little-known Indonesian Afrizal Tamboresi in an eight-rounder in the undercard.
It should be a great confidence booster for Fuentes after losing to World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight titleholder Roman Gonzalez and International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight king Amnat Ruenroeng. However, ALA Gym trainer Edmund Villamor believes he should not take Tamboresi for granted.
“No opponent is easy because they, too, are doing training,” Villamor told Sun.Star Cebu. “This should also bring back his confidence.”
Tamboresi has a 3-1 record with a knockout. However, there are other reports that his real record is 9-2 with seven knockouts.
Tamboresi is coming off a unanimous decision defeat to former Olympian Brad Hore.
The 29-year-old Fuentes, 35-8-2 with 20 knockouts, last saw action against Gonzalez in November last year, in which he lost by a sixth-round technical knockout.
Villamor saw signs of ring rust but they are doing their best to bring him back to his peak form.
“With what we see in sparring, the ring rust is there,” he said. ” But we are slowly bringing him back with strength training and sparring with bigger guys.”
Villamor believes that this fight should dictate if Fuentes still has what it takes to fight the big guns of his division.
“Rocky is still rated in the world. It all depends on his performance on the 28th,” he said.
The show features a double-header.
Milan Melindo (32-2, 12 KOs) takes on Mexican Carlos Fontes (21-3, 17 KOs) for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) light flyweight crown, while Arthur Villanueva (27-1, 14 KOs) slugs it out with Victor Mendez (19-2-2, 15 KOs).
Former amateur standout Kevin Jake Cataraja (1-0, 1 KO) locks horns with Indonesian Faris Nenggo (10-8-3, 3 KOs), while two-time world title challenger AJ Banal (33-2-1, 22 KOs) trades leathers with Emilio Norfat (25-6, 19 KOs).
