Pagara’s opponent rectifies error in his official record

Hoping to gain a little bit more respect from the Filipino boxing community, Mexican knockout artist Rosbel Montoya corrected an error with his official record yesterday during a press conference for the Pinoy Pride 8: Philippines vs. Mexico at the Maya Mexican Restaurant.

With three days left before the much-anticipated fight at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Montoya, who is set to face Filipino Jason Pagara for the WBO Youth Asia Pacific Welterweight championship, said his true record is actually 34-1-4 (win-loss-draw) with 29 knockout victories.

The first reported record of Montoya courtesy of ALA Boxing Promotions through boxrec.com was 12-1-2  with 11 KOs.

But ALA Boxing Promotions president Michael Aldeguer said it was just a small error that makes the fight even more interesting.

“We did not really know his true record so we are very surprised by it but I also believe in Pagara’s talent inside the ring so it’s going to be an epic battle this Saturday night.”

Philippine Boxrec editor Salven Lagumbay, who was present during yesterday’s press conference, clarified the error of the boxing website.

“Boxrec.com based its update on the boxers’ records worldwide after they were released by the media. The Mexican boxing community does not send us the results of the bouts in Mexico so we rely our information through the news,” said Lagumbay.

With this development, Aldeguer thinks this bout will be a true test for Pagara as he will be facing a veteran boxer in Montoya,  the reigning WBC FECOMBOX light welterweight champion.

“This would be his biggest test so far,” said Aldeguer.

Montoya, on the other hand, doesn’t even consider Pagara a tough foe.

“Throughout my career, the toughest opponent I fought was Reyes Sanchez, because I lost it after I was knocked out in four rounds,” he said. “But in this fight, I am sure that I will win over Pagara. I am going to start strong and finish strong.”

Meanwhile, Herminio Vega-Ramirez hopes his third visit to Cebu would be more productive.

In his first two trips, his wards— Rosendo Vega and Juan Carlos Gallegos— lost against Filipino boxers Milan “El Metodico” Melindo and Jason Pagara, respectively.

This time, Vega-Ramirez is bringing in Francisco Rosas (22-2-8, 13KOs) to fight Milendo in the main event of the PP8.

Twenty-year-old Genesis Servania of Bacolod City is also set to face a battle-scarred veteran in the way of Gerson Guerrero (34-0-8, 26 KOs) in his biggest test in his young career.

A final press conference for the boxing event will be held tomorrow at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. The official weigh-in is set on Friday at the event center of SM City Cebu.