HURTADO READY TO DEFEND HIS TITLE WHILE UNDERCARD PARTICIPANTS PADDING THEIR RECORDS
By Blackbull
Photos: Tom Casino/Showtime
INSIDEBOXING.com (October 17, 2002) - Saturday night on Showtime Championship Boxing WBA super lightweight champion Diobelys Hurtado will make his first title defense against training partner Vivian Harris. The undercard will feature fighters Rocky Juarez, Juan Diaz and Francisco Bojado, all looking to cushion their ring records with victories.
Hurtado seems to be a man on a mission, pretty much blowing off this fight against Harris and looking forward to avenging his loss to Kostya Tszyu. "The loss to Tszyu is a real blemish on my record, a thorn in my side that I would like to remove. I will fight Kostya Tszyu anywhere in the world, in Russia, in Australia, anywhere." Said Hurtado.
In addressing Harris, Hurtado would say "I actually know Vivian. We have trained together at the same gym. He is like most other fighters who desire to win a world title. But I have prepared myself very well for this fight. I am ready."
Throughout the conference Hurtado was very adamant about proving to everyone, he is the best junior welterweight in the world. On the other hand Harris, pretty much non existent in the conference would only offer "I am ready for this fight. I have been training three months for this fight. I am in good shape. This is a big fight for me and I am ready."
Hopefully, Harris will make fight out of his contest against Hurtado because I'm not sure we will get anything exciting from the undercard. It seems Main Events has carefully selected opponents for their fighters.
U.S. Olympian Rocky Juarez will fight former WBC super bantamweight champion
Hector Acero Sanchez. On paper this bouts looks good, Sanchez a former world
champion with a great deal of experience against an up and coming youngster. But
that's all it is, a great youngster versus an aging fighter. Sanchez, closer to
37 years of age than he is to 36 will merely succumb to the Olympian.
Francisco Bojado will be making his return to the ring after suffering his only defeat in 10 bouts. Bojado's set back loss sent him into a brief retirement. He will be fighting Frankie Sanchez of Alamosa, Colorado. The contest against Sanchez has been firmed up for some time now however, Main Events is so embarrassed by the match up that they continue to list Bojado's opponent as TBA. Bojado did not even participate in the conference promoting this show and his fight will not be part of the televised action.
In what I believe can be the shocker of the evening… Juan Diaz fighting in
his home town of Houston, in front of his family, friends and fans may have bit
a little more than he can chew when he faces Roy Delagdo of Denver, CO.
With the exception of a few fighters, Denver is the place to find opponents. Tomato cans, Taxi drivers, pigeons, catchers or whatever you want to call a guaranteed win.
Delgado fighting out of Denver is from East Los Angeles and undefeated in 10 professional fights, he trains and spars with champions not club fighters. He is the type of fighter you'll have to carry out of the ring before he quits or gives up. He is tough as nails.
If Diaz is taking this fight as one of Main Events "Gifts", he better watch out. "Being the underdog is my advantage. I am going to fight! I am going into his backyard, They're taking this fight for granted." Said Delgado. When asked if he was going to do anything different for this fight, Delagdo responded, "I am going to fight my fight, I'm not going to change my style to accommodate his style.
Fights will be on Showtime Championship Boxing, Saturday, October 19th from the Pavillion at Reliant Park in Houston, Texas.