UNDEFEATED super bantamweight prospect Albert Pagara gets his wish of a tough fight against dangerous former world title challenger Cesar Juarez in his return to the US.
“I have been asking for this fight for so long. This should be a great fight because he is a warrior, he even gave Nonito Donaire a hard fight,” Pagara said. “It’s a good thing that I have been given a fight like this because it should prove where I should be at my career.”
Pagara faces Juarez in ALA Promotions’ second US event on July 9 at the San Mateo Event Center in San Francisco, California.
“Just finalized with Zanfer. It’s on,” said ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer in a statement. “‘Prince’ Albert Pagara vs. Cesar Juarez on July 9 in San Francisco at the San Mateo Event Center. We now that it would be a dangerous fight and is a risk of his WBO No. 2 world ranki ng. But again, just like (Mark) Magsayo, we need to find out if he has what it takes to be a world champion.”
The 24-year-old Juarez rose up to prominence after giving Filipino superstar Nonito Donaire Jr. a run for his money. Juarez lost to Donaire Jr. by unanimous decision last Dec. 11 in Puerto Rico in a fight that was in the running for “Fight of the Year”.
“Juarez gave Nonito one of the toughest fights of his career. So this should be another exciting fight. This will be a make-or-break fight for Albert,” said Aldeguer.
Juarez, 17-5 with 13 knockouts, is on somewhat of a funk, because after losing to Donaire Jr. he dropped a split decision against Giovanni Delgado in March.
Since his pro debut in 2011, ALA Promotions has given Pagara a handful of tests, like Raul Hirales and William Gonzalez, but somehow he has hurdled them all.
The 22-year-old Pagara, 26-0 with 18 knockouts, is coming off a lopsided unanimous verdict over Yesner Talavera.
He has lofty rankings in three of the four major boxing governing bodies, 2nd in the World Boxing Organization (WBO), fourth in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and 12th in the World Boxing Council (WBC).
“This should be a war,” said Pagara “That’s why I’m preparing myself hard. It is an important fight because my No. 2 ranking is at stake. I’m very close at a world title shot and losing could change all that.”
