WORLD minimum weight champion Florante Condes has finally decided to stake his crown behind enemy lines early next year.
Interviewed Monday afternoon, Condes revealed that he has accepted the challenge of facing Mexican hopeful Raul ?Rayito? Garcia on Februay 16 in Baja California Sur in Mexico.
Condes said he made the decision as he feared of being stripped of his title if he fails to defend it in due time.
?Kung mawawala ang title ko sa loob nila ng ring kunin. Gusto kong ipaglaban ito dahil pinaghirapan ko ito. Gusto ko din na dito sa bansa natin itong title ko,? said Condes.
Condes admits he just signed the fight contract sometime last week.
Condes (22-3-1, 20 KO?s) won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight crown from local boy Muhammad Rachman via a close 12-round split verdict July of last year at the RCTI TV Studio in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Interviewed by ?Sports Chat? Thursday last week, Condes said he decided to leave behind all his handlers until everything is settled amongst themselves. Condes added he was at a loss on who to trust regarding his once successful but now stagnant boxing career.
In yesterday?s chat with this writer, Condes said he has decided to walk out on his Filipino manager Aljo Jaro and allow Dante Ortiz, a Puerto Rican based in Las Vegas, to manage his career.
?Kung talagang si Kuya Aljo ang manager ko bakit siya napipigilan ng mga Amerikano na ipromote ang laban dito sa atin,? said Condes. ?Pero yung Amerikano mayroon nang laban sa akin. Ang gusto ko lang talaga ilaban ko ang title ko.?
The 26-year-old Condes said what he knew all along was that Jaro was his registered manager but later on learned through the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) that Jaro?s wife Alice is the signatory of their managerial contract.
In the same interview, Condes admitted that he never received a single centavo from the $10,000 signing bonus given by the American group. Yesterday however, SportsChat received a text from Jaro stating that the money was not a signing bonus but the investment of his foreign partners in coming in as part of Condes? management team.
?Hindi signing bonus yun. Hiningi ko lang ang karapatan ko as a manager. Hiningi ko lang ang share niya. Siyempre ako ang gumawa bago maging Condes yan. Paano ang gastos ko? Aani na lang na walang gastos? Hindi sapat yung kabayaran sa mga ginastos ko,?was Jaro?s text message.
Since winning the crown, Jaro single-handedly clashed with their supposed American promoters Cesar Trevino and Bobby Bostick along with Ortiz.
September of 2006, Jaro signed a five-year promotional and co-managerial deals with Trevino and Ortiz, respectively.
SportsChat also learned that Ortiz is now at odds with his partners as both Jaro and Bostick have joined hands in suing the Puerto Rican impresario in the United States.
This will be the first time Condes will be fighting on Mexican soil and his second time outside of the Philippines. That title fight in Indonesia was Condes? first fight abroad.
Ranked #6 by the IBF, Garcia is undefeated in 22 bouts in carrying a record of 21-0-1 with 15 KO?s. He turned pro in July 2004 and fought all of his bouts exclusively in Baja California Sur.
