A SLEW of rising Filipino boxers will try to cement the country’s claim as the newest hotbed of the sport by campaigning abroad in the days to come.
But for Davao’s Vernie Torres, the dream of making it big in the international arena starts today when battles top superflyweight contender Jose Navarro in a 10-round non-title fight at the Mohegun Sun Casino in Connecticut.
The 32-year-old Pensacola-based Torres (27-6, 15 KO’s) has been campaigning in the United States since 1999 where he captured three regional titles.
Torres will be facing his toughest opponent thus far in Navarro (23-2, 11 KO’s), a former US Olympian who absorbed two controversial world title bouts in Japan.
On Saturday, Cebuano Jimrex Jaca, fast emerging as the country’s top boxing hopefuls, collides with Japanese Nobuhito Honmo in a 12-round title fight for the vacant Oriental superfeatherweight crown in Japan.
The 22-year-old Jaca (25-1-1, 12 KO’s) once reigned as the Oriental bantamweight king and is now eyeing his second regional strap.
The Jaca-Honmo bout will be held at the famed Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Then came the much-awaited bout by Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista, touted as the heir apparent to boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, will see action in a major boxing card at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on Sunday morning (Manila time)
The 19-year-old Bautista (19-0, 14 KO’s), currently training at the Wild Card gym under American guru Freddie Roach, faces an acid test in Nicaraguan Ricardo Bonilla in a 10-round non-title fight.
It will be another gigantic exposure for the Bohol-born Bautista as his bout against Bonilla will serve as one of the undercards to the 12-round world superfeatherweight bout between defending champion Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez.
Next weekend, Bautista’s stablemate Z Gorres will strut his wares at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California versus Mexican Jose Laureano.
Also next Sunday, Cebuano Dexter Delada challenges African Ali Funeka for the WBC International lightweight crown to be held in East London, South Africa.
