AFTER a long hiatus, former interim World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champion Jhack Tepora makes his ring return in an eight-round tune-up fight against David Leal on April 20, 2024 at the Tijuana Municipal Auditorium in Tijuana, Mexico.
Tepora hasn’t fought in two years and is working his way back to the top and will be facing a relatively easy opponent in his first fight as a lightweight. Tepora is 24-1 with 18 knockouts, while Leal is listed at 3-12-2 with three knockouts.
Leal is a fighter who’s usually pitted against prospects to check if they are ready for the next level and has last nine of his last 10 contests. His last win was in 2019, a second-round knockout of Alfredo Ramirez.
Leal lost by unanimous decision in his last fight against Evlyn Martinez last March 30, 2024 in Mexico.
Tepora, on the other hand, last fought in 2022 and scored a second-round knockout of Richard Betos in Gen. Santos City.
Tepora became the interim WBA featherweight champion after a ninth-round stoppage of Edivaldo Ortega in Malaysia in 2018.
He suffered his only career defeat in 2019 after a first-round knockout at the hands of Oscar Escandon in 2019 in the US. /EKA