MEXICAN Hector Velazquez yesterday served strong notice to pound-for-pound great Manny Pacquiao as he demolished Trinidad Mendoza in the fifth round at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois.
The Tijuana-based Velazquez dropped Mendoza with a body shot in the fourth, then jumped on his foe in the fifth with two lefts to stop the bout at the 1:25 mark.
The win put Velazquez’s streak to fifth since last year, improving his record to 42 wins, 10 losses, 2 draws with 31 knockouts.
More important, the win earned for Velazquez a big-money showdown with Pacquiao on an HBO-televised bout on Sept. 10.
On the same card, Mexican icon Erik Morales battles Zahir Raheem in the co-headliner.
Promoter Bob Arum, interviewed by the media earlier, has hinted that should Morales and Pacquiao come out unscathed in the September show, the plan is to pit them in a pay-per-view rematch in December.
Pacquiao will leave for the United States at the end of this month to start his preparation for Velazquez under trainer Freddie Roach.
