World Boxing Association (WBA) interim featherweight champion Jhack Tepora is hoping his debut fight in the United States will give him a big break.
Tepora face former World Boxing Council (WBC) interim super bantamweight champ Hugo Ruiz of Mexico in one of the undercard matches of the Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner main event on January 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
?Money is not important to me but the championship,? the Cebuano native told The Manila Times in Filipino through a phone interview on Thursday.
?All I want is to win and I believe this fight will give me an opportunity to become famous in America just like Sir Manny.?
But the unbeaten Tepora (22-0 win-loss record with 17 knockouts) is facing a formidable foe in the 30-year-old Ruiz (38-4 record with 33 knockouts).
?I was a 122-pounder before while he was a WBC world champion in the same weight class. I was then ranked No. 8 by the WBC,? Tepora said. ?He (Ruiz) is more of a counter-puncher and has a powerful straight.?
Tepora, on a diet of vegetable and coconut water, is currently fine-tuning his footwork, jab, stamina and defense at his brother?s gym in Cebu.
Tepora is coming off a ninth round technical knockout win over Mexican Edivaldo Ortega last July 15 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in one of the undercard bouts of the Pacquiao-Lucas Matthysse fight.
Besides Tepora, the other WBA featherweight world champions are Mexican Leo Santa Cruz (Super champion) and Puerto Rican Jesus Rojas (Regular champion).
The WBA has three world champions per weight category.
