PORRAS TO FIGHT WBC WORLD TITLE-ELIMINATOR IN MEXICO JAN. 20

By LITO DELOS REYES

TOP PHOTO shows WBC Asian Boxing Council super bantamweight champion Glenn Porras with manager Engr. Jilson Basang (3rd from right).

DAVAO CITY – Filipino boxer Glenn “The Rock” Porras will fight against Mexican Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete in a title eliminator on January 20 at the Domo Sindicato de Trabajadores IMSS in Tlalpan, Distrito Federal in Mexico.
The 32-year old Porras (31W-6L-0D, 19 KOs) will be accompanied by his manager Engr. Jilson Basang and trainer Rey Inocian of the MB Northstar Boxing Gym from Panabo City.
Porras, a former interim WBO Asia Pacific Youth bantamweight champion previously scored a 1st round knockout against Indonesian Noldi Manakane last November 25 at the UM Gym in Tagum City to capture the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council super bantamweight title.
“I will do all my best to win in Mexico,” said Porras, also a former Mindanao Professional Boxing Association (MinProBA) and Philippine bantamweight champion.
In case Porras wins, he will next challenge the unbeaten WBC World super bantamweight champion Rey Vargas (31W-0L, 22 KOs) also of Mexico.
“(We’re) hoping for a big upset against the Mexican in his own hometown,” said Basang, also current MinProBA president.
Navarrete (22W-1L-0D, 19 KOs) , on the other hand, has won all his five fights last year by knockouts.
His only loss was controversial. Despite losing to Daniel Argueta (4W-0L) by a unanimous decision in the Cinturon de Oro XVIII Final held July 26, 2012 at the Jose Cuervo Salon in Polaco, Navarrete was still named the champion because Argueta did not appeared at the official weigh-in.
The Porras-Navarrete fight is promoted by Fernando Beltran of Promociones Zanfer and will be televised on Mexico Azteca and USA beIN Sports en Espanol.
The 27-year old Vargas had successfully retained his crown in his second defense via a unanimous decision against Oscar Negrete last December 2 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.