PEDRO Taduran is all locked in for his IBF minimumweight title defense against Brandon Moreno of Spain set Sunday (Manila time) at the Kiva Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The reigning Filipino champion easily tipped the scale during the official weigh-in on Saturday (Manila time), weighing in at 104.8 lbs.
Moreno, the 33-year-old unbeaten challenger from Madrid, came in at the exact 105-pound limit.
Taduran won’t be having the benefit of trainer Carl Penalosa working his corner after being compounded with issues regarding his visa.
In his place though, is veteran trainer Joven Jimenez, who’s been regularly manning the corner and training of former IBF super-flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas.
The 34-year-old Ancajas also helped train Taduran during his stay in Las Vegas the past three weeks, where he set up training camp at the Knuckleheads boxing gym owned by international match maker Sean Gibbons.
The 12-round fight marks Taduran’s fourth defense of the championship belt he won over Ginjiro Shigeoka of Japan two years ago.
His last title defense was a seventh round stoppage of Gustavo Perez Alvarez of Mexico in California last April, bringing his overall record to 20-4 with 14 KOs.
He’s currently the lone Filipino world boxing champion.
Moreno boasts an unbeaten record of 16-0 with 5 KOs, but will be fighting outside of Spain for the first time in his first attempt at a world championship.
Allen Dominguez will be the third man in the ring, while the three judges working the bout are Esther Lopez, Anthony Romero, and Mark Sanchez.
It serves as a co-main event of the WBA interim flyweight championship between Abraham Perez and Yankiel Rivera.
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