Cuello's fight off as rival collapses
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 25 Mar 2010
MANILA, Philippines - WBC No. 1 minimumweight contender Denver Cuello of Iloilo won?t be facing Juan Hernandez in a title eliminator in Monterrey this Saturday as his manager Aljoe Jaro said the fight was cancelled after the Mexican opponent collapsed in the gym and is now confined in a hospital.
Cuello was booked to leave for Monterrey last Tuesday on a Philippine Airlines flight. He would?ve left Manila for Hong Kong early evening and connected to Monterrey via Paris on Air France and Frankfurt on Lufthansa.
But Jaro phoned from Monterrey before Cuello left home for the airport and aborted the trip. The fight would?ve been in the undercard of Erik Morales? comeback bout against Nicaragua?s Jose Alfaro for the vacant WBC International welterweight crown. ?Of course, I?m disappointed,? said Cuello yesterday. ?But I think it?s a blessing. I would?ve left last Sunday but the trip was cancelled when I was told to get a transit visa for Amsterdam because the route to Mexico was through Bangkok, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. I was given another route to leave Tuesday. Imagine the waste if I went all the way to Mexico and found out the fight was off.?
Cuello said he started training for Hernandez right after halting Samuel Apuya in the first round at the Cuneta Astrodome last Jan. 23 and has logged over 150 rounds of sparring with the likes of Eddie Dejales, Danilo Pe?a, Ricardo Roa and Richard Olisa.
?I was ready to fight Hernandez even if I?ve never seen him on tape,? said Cuello. ?All I know is he?s right-handed and I?m left-handed. I tried to look for his fights on YouTube but found nothing. Still, I?m confident I can beat him. He?s my ticket to the world title.?
Cuello said the fight against Hernandez, ranked No. 2, will be rescheduled for sometime in April but he won?t stay idle waiting in line. Jaro said he?ll arrange a tune-up for Cuello in case the Hernandez fight is delayed over a month.
?Hernandez had difficulty making the 105-pound limit and collapsed while training in the gym just the other day,? said Jaro?s wife Alice who got the news in a phone call from Mexico in her Binangonan home. ?He was over-reduced and brought to the hospital, severely dehydrated. He?s now on dextrose. He still wanted to fight but the boxing commission refused to clear him. The fight will be rescheduled but we still don?t know when.?
Cuello, 23, was promised a mandatory crack at the WBC title after capturing the WBC International diadem on a fourth round stoppage of Japan?s Hiroshi Matsumoto at the Araneta Coliseum last year. But the wait has taken longer than expected.
WBC minimumweight champion Oleydong Sithsanerchai of Thailand beat Indonesia?s Muhammad Rachman for the title last May then scored a majority 12-round decision over Juan Palacios in his first defense last November. He faces Japan?s Yasutaka Kuroki in his second defense in Tokyo this Saturday. Oleydong has a 33-0 record, with 12 KOs.
Jaro is in Mexico to confer with WBC president Jose Sulaiman and promoter Nacho Huizar on when to reset the Cuello-Hernandez fight. Jaro left Manila last Saturday and will be back next week.
Meanwhile, another Filipino is set to figure in an IBF lightflyweight title eliminator in Acapulco. Bert Batawang of Mandaue takes on former IBF champion Ulises Solis this Saturday with the winner assured of a crack at the crown held by Colombia?s Carlos Tamara. There are no No. 1 and No. 2 contenders in the IBF lightflyweight division. Solis is ranked No. 3 and Batawang, No. 9.
Filipino promoter Sammy Gello-ani flew to Acapulco yesterday to witness the bout.
?Let?s see how much Solis has left,? said international matchmaker and promoter Sampson Lewkowicz who arranged the bout. ?For Batawang, this will be his last chance. He?s now 38.?
Batawang has a 45-14-3 record, with 37 KOs, and stopped Indonesia?s Jack Amisa in Li Yi, China, last November. Solis lost the IBF crown to Brian Viloria last year and has since bounced back to defeat Dirceu Cabarca on an eight-round shutout in raising his record to 29-2-2, with 20 KOs.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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