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THE
American promoter and manager of world minimum weight
champion Florante Condes arrived in the country the
other day to finalize the much-awaited US debut of the
Filipino fighter within the year.
Cezar
Trevino of Trevino Boxing Inc. along with Puerto Rican
manager Dante Ortiz blew into town along with Filipino
trainer Morris East, a former world welterweight
champion.
“We
wanted to come over and meet our boy to hand over to him
personally his money. We tried to get over here
previously, but we ran into several complications,” said
Trevino.
The trio
is in town to personally congratulate Condes and, at the
same time, sit down with Filipino manager Aljoe Jaro to
present an offer for Condes to fight in a tune-up bout
next month in Mexico.
“We’ve
come a long way, and we’re here to honor him and see
where he is training, and to make sure he gets paid and
make sure he’s well taken cared of,” said Trevino in an
exclusive interview with BusinessMirror yesterday in a
posh hotel along Roxas Boulevard.
In
September of last year, Jaro signed a five-year
promotional deal and co-managerial pact with both
Trevino and Ortiz, respectively.
Jaro is
scheduled to arrive today from Las Vegas, where he
accompanied another potential superstar, Bernabe
Concepcion, who scored a fourth-round technical knockout
win over former US Olympian Gabriel Elizondo last
weekend at the Mandalay Bay.
“We
haven’t had any luck communicating with Aljoe, so we
decided to come over,” added Trevino.
Trevino
will be handing over to Condes a check worth $9,500, the
balance of whatever amount they promised to the Filipino
champion.
According to Trevino, the nontitle bout of Condes in
Mexico is their way of introducing the Filipino champion
to the Mexican boxing community before they invade the
American market. Trevino revealed that they plan to
match Condes with undefeated Mexican prospect Raul
“Rayito” Garcia in a 10-round nontitle bout at La Paz
City in Baja California Sur, Mexico.
For the
nontitle tiff against Garcia (19-0-1, 14 KOs), Condes
will earn $12,500, about $3,000 more than what the
Filipino earned for his world title conquest last month
in Indonesia.
The
27-year-old Condes won the International Boxing
Federation (IBF) minimum weight crown from local boy
Muhammad Rachman via a close 12-round split verdict on
July 7 at the RCTI TV Studio in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Come
September, Trevino revealed that Condes would headline a
card in Texas that will feature the Filipino champion in
a unification bout against anyone among the three other
recognized 105-lb title holders.
The
planned unification bout of Condes, set November 10 at
the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, is said to be a
pay-per-view card via Direct TV and In Demand.
The
current World Boxing Association minimum weight champion
is Japanese Yutaka Niida, who is scheduled to defend his
crown against Filipino challenger Yukka Gejon in a
rematch on September 1 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
World
Boxing Council holder Eagle Kyowa, a Japan-based Thai,
is a two-time champion whose first reign in 2004 was cut
short the same year as his second title defense.
Kyowa
regained the crown in 2005 and has defended it four
times, one of them against recent International Boxing
Federation light flyweight title challenger Rodel Mayol.
The
World Boxing Organization (WBO) ruler is Puerto Rican
Ivan Calderon, who is set to move up to the 108-lb
division and challenge Mexican Hugo Cazares in a WBO
title fight on August 25 in Puerto Rico. |
