Hurricane Jade Bornea Ready for IBF-115 Eliminator Jan 14 in Mexico; Could Become Jerwin's Mandatory Challenger.

By Carlos Costa

Unbeaten Filipino Super Flyweight Jade “Hurricane” Bornea (16-0, 10 KO’s) is set to wage the most important fight of his life – a war he can win – when he collides against relatively unknown Moroccan-Italian Muhammed Obbadi (22-1, 13 KO’s) on Friday, January 14 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México.

The clash was confirmed by the IBF and by Mexican outfit BXSTRS Promotions.

Bornea, ranked # 7 by the IBF, earned his awesome chance against Obbadi after wins by points over Mexican-American Ernesto Delgadillo (11-1-2, 2 KO’s) two years ago at the Legends Casino near Seattle, and another triumph over unheralded Mindanao warrior Roland Jay Biendima (15-10-1, 8 KO’s) in April of last year in Gensan.

Meanwhile, the 28-year-old Muhammed “Maraviglia” Obbadi born in Morroco’s historic capital Casablanca, but for years living and training in Tuscany, Italy, with coach Leonard Bundu, has been a brief 2-division European Champ at 112 and 115 lbs.

Currently the highest ranked 115-pounder in the world by the IBF, Muhammad Obbadi flies into México with the focused goal of claiming the solid win that would propel him to a world title fight. Will he get it? Or will the strong Pinoy fighter scalp him instead?

Surely, the Muhammed “Maraviglia” Obbadi vs Jade “Hurricane” Bornea 12-rounder rumble could not be more crucial for both men as the winner instantly becomes mandatory challenger, earning the golden ticket to fight for the IBF Super Flyweight World Title, the belt that currently belongs to the reigning champion popular Pinoy warrior Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KO’s).

Therefore, if the 26-year old Jade Bornea from the Banwa sang Arakan in Cotabato del Norte, beats Obbadi in Mexico, the world of boxing might as well see yet another world title clash between two Pinoy warriors, how about that?

For that to happen, “The Hurricane” Bornea needs to defeat Obbadi Jan 14 in Mexico – a win he can get – and “The Pretty Boy” Jerwin needs to make good use of his fantastic boxing skills to secure his victory over Argentina challenger Fernando Daniel Martínez (13-0, 8 KO’s) on Feb 5 in the U.S. Will those two wins happen?

The IBF-115 eliminator war in Mexico is promoted by Mexican promotion outfit BXSTRS Promotions in association with Promociones del Pueblo, live in Latin America on ESPN Knockout.

Best of luck Bornea and Jerwin!

The author Carlos Costa can be reached at carlos@philboxing.com