VERNIE TORRES VOWS TO PROVE CRITICS WRONG
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 26 Jul 2008
LAS VEGAS, Nevada ? Vernie Torres said he is aware that little attention is being given to him both by the media and boxing fans who used to root for him in the United States after his record impaired rapidly to 27 wins (15 by knockout), 11 defeats and two draws since he started campaigning here in 1999.
?Pero huwag silang magsalita nang patapos dahil consistent ang insayo ko ngayon (They should not write me off because I train very hard so often nowadays),? beamed the 34-year-old Torres, who won his U.S. debut by majority decision over Mauro Diaz at the Grand Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi on July 30, 1999.
Handpicked by World Boxing Council (WBC) double crown world champion Manny Pacquiao to join his bandwagon being also a Davaoeno, Torres is on a five-fight losing skid and was badly clobbered in absorbing a fourth round technical knockout out (TKO) loss to Julio Zarate in his last outing at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California on Nov. 2, 2007.
A regular mainstay at Pacquiao?s apartment at the Palazzo in La Brea, Los Angeles, Torres was inserted by Pacquiao?s trustee Michael Koncz in the ?The Battle? card assembled by Top Rank and HBO on July 26 headlined by the Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto 12-rond championship fisticuffs.
He will tackle the sensational 24-year-old Benjamin Flores (18-3, 6 KOs) of Houston, Texas in a non-title featherweight contest scheduled for eight rounds.
Win or lose over Flores, Torres has been booked to next face Torrence Daniels, a one-time knockout victim of North American Boxing Federation (NABF) super bantamweight ruler Bernabe Concepcion, on August 23, this year at the Tropicana and Casino hotel, here.
?Kahit na galling siya sa maraming talo, tiwala pa rin ako kay Vernie Torres ngayon dahil straight ang training niya at sumasabay siya kay Manny (Pacquiao),? said his friend Jovy Chan-Halog, who is also a former boxing champion.
Promoter and manager Aljoe Jaro, who collaborates with Michael Konc in the affairs of his boxers, said a win over Flores will open the doors for another megabuck deals for Torres, who once held the following belts: International Boxing Association (IBA) bantamweight, Unites states Boxing Association (USBA) super flyweight, and World Boxing Organization (WBO) intercontinental super flyweight.
A defeat could mean his retirement for good.
?But, like what I said when we were still in L.A., Vernie Torres will shock the world,? said Jaro, who offered to assist Torres in his bid to revive his past glory in the fistic business.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.
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