MEPRANIUM IS LONE PINOY BOXER IN UNDERCARD OF 'DREAM MATCH'
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 03 Dec 2008
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Unlike in the previous mega fights of Manny Pacquiao here and in some parts of the United States where at least two Filipino boxers were included in the undercard, Richie Mepranium will be the lone Filipino in the undercard of the "Dream Match" rumble between the Filipino ring icon and L.A.-based superstar Oscar De La Hoya on December 6 at the MGM Grand here.
Mepranium (14-2-1, 3 KOs), of Sarangani, Philippines, will tackle Cesar Lopez (20-6, 4 KOs) of El Paso, Texas for eight rounds.
North American Boxing Federation (NABF) super bantamweight titlist Bernabe Concepcion, a regular customer in the Top Rank promotion, was supposed to fight World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (23-0, 21 KOs) of Cagua, Puerto Rico for 12 rounds in the undercard but was replaced by Sergio Medina (33-1, 18 KOs) of Salta, Argentina after his manager Aljoe Jaro declined the offer due to lack of preparation.
The "Dream Match", a co-promotion of Golden Boy and Top Rank, will feature in the undercard Victor Ortiz (22-1-1, 17 KOs) of Oxnard, California versus Jeffrey Resto (22-2, 13 KOs) of Bronx, New York for WBO junior welterweight championship for 12 rounds.
A pair of 8-round curtain raiser bouts will feature a super middleweight duel between unbeaten prospect Daniel Jacobs (12-0, 11 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York against Victor Lares (14-3, 3 KOs) of Corpus Christi, Texas and junior welterweight Danny Oscar Garcia (9-0, 7 KOs) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania versus Francisco Rios Gil (13-8, 9 KOs) of Phoenix, Arizona.
Junior featherweight Roberto Marroquin (4-0, 3 KOs) of Dallas, Texas will face Isac Hidalgo (2-2 0 KOs) of Tucson, Arizona for six rounds.
Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs), meanwhile, has told his supportners "not to worry" despite the growing notoriety of De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) as a one-punch knockout artist.
"I am excited," Pacquiao quipped when asked by reporters how did he feel on board the Pacquiao bus that carried more than 50 journalists, relatives and friends from Hollywood to here December 1.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.
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