FAST-RISING super bantamweight prospect Jhack Tepora gets his first true test when he faces his first Mexican opponent in Bohol.
Tepora defends his World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental super bantamweight crown against Emmanuel Dominguez in the main event of Who?s Next? 5 on July 7 at the Island City Mall in Tagbilaran City.
?I?m very ready,? an upbeat Tepora told SunStar Cebu. ?I?m very excited.?
Tepora easily beat his last two foreign foes, knocking out Galih Susanto in the fifth and Yon Armed in the first.
Dominguez, however, should pose a threat for the 22-year-old prospect, who hasn?t faced an opponent of his caliber.
The 23-year-old Dominguez is an up-and-comer in the Mexican circuit. He is the current World Boxing Council (WBC) Fecombox super bantamweight champion and also currently rated No. 27 by the WBC. He owns a win over former interim WBO bantamweight champion Alejandro ?Payasito? Hernandez and has fought the likes of world-ranked Emmanuel Navarrete and experienced Sergio Frias.
Dominguez has won his last five contests.
If Tepora, ranked No. 12 in the WBO, wants to prove that he?s the real deal, then this should be a must win fight for him.
Tepora is unbeaten with a record of 20-0 with 15 knockouts, while Dominguez is 21-5-2 with 13 knockouts.
Undefeated Christian Araneta makes the first title defense of his WBO Oriental light flyweight belt against world-rated Jessie Espinas, a highly-anticipated rematch of two promising prospects.
Araneta and Espinas fought each other two years ago in Danao. Araneta stopped Espinas in eight rounds.
But after losing, Espinas has vastly improved, winning his last five bouts that include wins over Thai former interim world champion Pai Pharob and once world-ranked Tommy Seran, who he both knocked out. With his current streak, the 24-year-old Espinas earned lofty ratings in three of the four major governing bodies of boxing. He is ranked No. 5 in both the WBO and WBA and No. 9 in the IBF.
Araneta also won his next four but against weaker competition. He is currently rated No. 8 by the WBO and No. 16 by the WBC.
The 22-year-old Araneta is 14-0 with 12 knockouts, while Espinas is 16-2 with 11 knockouts.
Jerry Castroverde (10-4, 5 KOs), Jhaleel Payao (15-1, 9 KOs) and Kenny Demecillo (12-4-2, 7 KOs) are seeing action in the main card.
Castroverde slugs it out with Crisanto Contemprato (6-2-1, 4 KOs) for the Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) super featherweight title, Payao trades leathers with Jestoni Autida (9-7, 4 KOs) for the PBF super bantamweight strap and Demecillo squares off with Renan Portes (9-4, 5 KOs) in a 10-round non-title bout.
