FORMER WORLD bantamweight and featherweight champion Luisito Espinosa has been barred from fighting on American soil unless he passes a battery of medical tests, sources said.
Espinosa, 38, was prevented from going up the ring last week against ex-world champion Lakva Sim of Mongolia in an eight-rounder in San Jose, California, for not agreeing to undergo an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) test as ordered by the California State Athletic Commission.
Espinosa, who has been living in the US since mid-1998, has lost four of his last six fights, including the last two by knockout.
The fight with Sim, formerly the World Boxing Association super-featherweight king who packs a 20-4-0 win-loss-draw card with 17 knockouts, was arranged by his new handler Joe Robles.
Robles reportedly protested the decision not to allow Espinosa to get into the ring with the rugged Sim, originally from Mongolia, saying the Filipino still has what it takes to win again.
But Sim is not an ordinary fighter.
The 33-year-old native of Ulan Batur has never been knocked out in his 10-year career and his four losses came against topnotch opposition.
In contrast, Espinosa has been on a nosedive the past couples of years and in his last fight, against Cristobal Cruz, he was knocked out in the third round. Before the Cruz debacle, Espinosa was stopped in seven rounds by Carlos Navarro.
Apart from the devastating losses to Cruz and Navarro, Espinosa also sustained knockout losses the past few years to Zahir Raheem – who faces Erik Morales on Sept. 10 in Los Angeles – and Augie Sanchez.
CSAC executive director Armando Garcia told ABS-CBN News’s North American bureau that Espinosa is at risk of getting injured by continuing to fight at the advanced age of 38.
Espinosa holds a 47-13-0 slate with 26 knockouts.
