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MANILA, Philippines – Michael Farenas’ has finally found an opponent for his long awaited title elimination bout as the International Boxing Federation (IBF) has ordered the Filipino boxer to face undefeated Puerto Rican Jose Pedraza to determine the next challenger for the organization’s junior lightweight championship.
After more than a week of negotiations, both camps finally reached an agreement as the two pugilists are scheduled to slug it out on November 14 at a yet-to-be-announced venue on Pedraza’s home turf of Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Farenas, the 30-year-old protégé of two-division world champion Gerry Peñalosa, was supposed to vie for Rances Barthelemy’s IBF belt after an eighth-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Mark Davis last month at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
However, the New Jersey-based sanctioning body claimed that Farenas’ triumph over Davis did not guarantee him a championship opportunity and ruled that he should meet no.3-IBF ranked Fernando Saucedo to earn a mandatory shot.
Saucedo, instead was chosen by Barthelemy as a voluntary defense on October 3.
Farenas was then paired with Mexican-American fighter Diego Magdaleno, who later refused to square off with the hard-hitting Pinoy southpaw for unknown reasons.
Magdaleno’s surprising pullout compelled the Lindsey Tucker-led championship committee to get another foe for Farenas.
Farenas admitted his disappointment over the IBF’s move to exclude him from the immediate title shot, but he asserted that he has come to terms with it and is more determined than ever to achieve his dream of becoming a boxing world champion.
“We all know that there is politics involved in my case. I was disappointed at first, but I had to move on. Right now, I look at it as another opportunity to reach my goal to become world champion in this sport,” Farenas tells Rappler.
Since his disappointing setback to Yuriorkis Gamboa in December 2012, Farenas (39-4-4, 31 knockouts) piled up five straight knockout wins, thumping the likes of Gerardo Zayas, Kosol Sor Vorapin, Jesus Rios, Hector Velazquez and Davis.
On the other hand, Pedraza has never tasted defeat in his 18 professional outings, which includes 12 knockouts to his own credit.
Farenas currently holds the no. 2 spot in the IBF rankings, while his right-handed counterpart occupies the no. 6 seat.
The 5-foot-5 native of Gubat, Sorsogon stressed that he is open to accepting an offer for a championship crack from other organizations aside from IBF.
“As long as they will give me a title shot, I will take it. I will fight any champion from World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association or even World Boxing Organization,” he said.
Farenas kicked off his sparring session on Wednesday afternoon, October 1 at Tiger City Boxing Gym in Mandaluyong City, where he roughly pummeled fellow veteran Jonel Alibio in four rounds.
In addition, he again acquired the services of Jay San Pedro, who is a Canadian Fitness Professionals Inc.-certified trainer and Tiger City Boxing Gym owner, to be his strength and conditioning coach.
“This is the second time I will be working with Mr. Jay San Pedro. His program helped me a lot in my bout against Mark Davis. I felt stronger than before because I could throw any punch that I wanted. Working with Boss Jay increased my speed in the ring and developed my balance,” Farenas noted.
In his quest for a decisive victory over Pedraza, Farenas conceded to the importance of getting himself honed in a stringent training camp.
“I’m happy with what’s going on in my training camp. I push myself to the limit everyday because I have to be outstanding against Pedraza. I won’t treat him lightly to prove that I deserve my spot right now,” he said. – Rappler.com
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