AFTER a disappointing start to 2019 by having his US debut cancelled for being overweight, Jhack Tepora has a chance to end his year right by earning mandatory challenger status in the World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight division.
The 24-year-old Tepora, ranked No. 11 by the WBA, takes on WBA No. 6 Bryan De Gracia in a title eliminator on Dec. 21, 2019 in the US.
“Every fight for me now is important even though it isn’t a world championship,” Tepora told SunStar Cebu.
The winner of the title eliminator earns a shot at the winner of the Nov. 23, 2019 fight between defending WBA featherweight king Can Xu and Manny Robles III in Indio, California.
Tepora learned his lesson of taking each fight seriously after he was pulled out of his match against Hugo Ruiz in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrian Broner fight in January after tipping the scales way over the contracted weight. He was also stripped of his interim WBA featherweight strap in the process.
Tepora is currently training in Las Vegas along with Johnriel Casimero, and is working with one of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the business —Angel “Memo” Heredia.
“I’m trying to improve every aspect of my game,” said Tepora. “My training is going well. I’m going to start sparring next week. I’m trimming down in weight and doing conditioning.”
This fight won’t be a walk in the park for Tepora though, because De Gracia is ranked that high for a reason.
“He is good. He’s strong and tough,” said Tepora, a native of Danao, Cebu.
The 26-year-old De Gracia of David, Panama is coming off a first round stoppage over one-time world title challenger Daniel Diaz. He has a record of 25-2-1 with 21 knockouts.
Tepora, on the other hand, finally made his US debut on June 1, 2019 and won by unanimous decision over Juan Luis Gallegos.
Tepora is 23-0 with 17 knockouts. (RSC)