JHACK TEPORA BREAKS INTO BIG TIME BOXING
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 23 Apr 2018
KUALA LUMPUR -- Cebuano featherweight contender Jhack Tepora got a taste of big time boxing when he was made to talk in front of a jampacked international media in Manila and Kuala Lumpur during the two-city promotional tour of the Pacquiao-Matthysse WBA world welterweight championship last Wednesday and Friday. Tepora lands on the main undercard of the highly anticipated fight scheduled on July 15 in Kuala Lumpur when he takes on Edivaldo Ortega of Mexico for the vacant IBO world featherweight title.
?My knees turned into a jelly,? Tepora confided to PhilBoxing. ?It?s better to just fight inside the ring than to speak to all those people.?
But like any boxer going up, it is Tepora?s dream to someday follow the footsteps of the other Filipino stars and bask into the limelight. He just can?t believe it is happening too soon.
Thanks to Manny Pacquiao who appeared serious in trying to discover new boxing stars in Asia as a major thrust of his promotional company MP Promotions. Tepora got the call after Jhacks scintillating performance in his last fight in South Africa where he flattened local boy Lusanda Komanisi in the second round of their WBO Inter-Continental title fight.
Jhack Tepora reads from his notes as he speaks in front of the Kuala Lumpur media Friday as Pacquiao (L) and Matthysse (R) listens.
L-R: OPSI Vice-President Jerome Calatrava, Tepora and trainer Jinggoy Jungco during the Pacquiao-Matthysse Manila presscon on Wednesday.
?This is only the beginning,? Omega Pro-Sports International (OPSI) vice-president Jerome Calatrava said. ?Jhack will have to get used to it because he will be thrust more into the limelight in the future if he keeps on winning.? OPSI is Tepora's manager and local promoter.
Calatrava also revealed that it was the close connection between OPSI president Paulo Castillo and MP Promotions matchmaker Sean Gibbons that helped push the deal.
The undefeated Tepora (21-0-0, 16KOs) will take on Edivaldo Ortega of Mexico for the vacant IBO world featherweight belt, his first attempt to capture a world title. Ortega himself has an impressive record having lost only once in 28 fights with 12 fights ending inside the distance. Ortega?s last victim was former world title challenger Drian Francisco of the Philippines whom he defeated by unanimous decision over 10 rounds.
This early Tepora and his training team have already formulated a fight plan against the Mexican.
?We have reviewed and studied Ortega?s fight videos,? Omega Gym trainer Jinggoy Jungco said. ?We?ll put Jhack into intense training to prepare for his first world title fight.?
If Tepora, 25, wins his first world title this coming July in a fight that will be broadcast to millions all around the world, he should, indeed, get used to the limelight as he will have to face more of the same media scenario going forward.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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