– Moore to fight Reynaldo Lopez instead
Carwyn Holland, co-promoter of the September 26 boxing card dubbed the ‘Caribbean Fury’ yesterday disclosed that Leon Moore, the WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) and national bantamweight champion will now face Reynaldo Lopez for the North American Boxing Association (NABA), World Boxing Association (WBA) Fedelatin and Caribbean Bantamweight titles at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Moore, who was down to face Colombian Mauricio Pastrana over 12 rounds for the vacant NABA bantamweight title but, according to Holland, Pastrana has opted for a fight which offers him a bigger purse.
Holland said that apparently the Colombian had read about Moore and how good of a fighter he is and said that he prefers not face the Guyanese because of the fear of losing and tarnishing his reputation.
Pastrana has stepped into the ring 48 times, winning 35 fights, 23 of which came by way of knockouts (KO) while also picking up two draws and 11 losses.
It was stated that the 36 year-old Lopez’s record stands at 39 fights, with 30 wins, 21 Kos, seven loses and two draws.
His last fight was on February 28 against the International Boxing Association (IBA) bantamweight champion Victor Fonseca where he was TKOed in the third of their scheduled 10-round en- counter.
Lopez’s last shot at a major title was in 2006 against Cristian Mijares for the interim World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight belt.
He was unsuccessful losing via a unanimous decision.
But, for the Guyanese Moore, who is also ranked seventh by the WBC, it would be redemption after his famous mysterious defeat to another Colombian Irene Pacheco in 2006 for the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Inter-Continental title.
‘Hurry-up’ Moore’s record stands at 24 wins from 26 fights, 22 of which came by way of knockouts. He has two losses.
His most recent win was on June 26 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall when he whipped Dexter ‘The Kid’ Marques via a second round TKO to reclaim his national bantamweight title which he had vacated in 2007.
Meanwhile, the undercard fighters for the Caribbean Fury have all inked their contracts to appear on the card which will also see Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred fighting for her first world title against Corinne Van Ryck De Groot for the vacant Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) bantamweight title.
Marques is down to face Hewley Robertson over four rounds. Ironically, Robertson happens to be the training partner for Moore and as such Marques will be aiming to redeem himself from the embarrassing TKO which he suffered in June.
Also, two former well accomplished amateur fighters Paul Lewis jr. and Shawn Pile will touch gloves over six rounds to see who has made a better transition to the pros.
National welterweight champion Iwan Azore and Wayne Briggs are expected to settle an old grievance over six rounds. The last time the two met was in 2004 at the Splashmins Fun Park where Azore claimed a unanimous decision victory.
Also featuring on the card is national middleweight champion Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman. He will square off against Trinidad and Tobago’s Kevin Placid over 10 rounds.
National heavyweight champion Mitchell Rogers is also expected to feature on the card but Holland said that they are hard pressed to find an opponent.
Holland said that the local fighters are calling for a very high purse and some are even plainly saying no because of the reputation of Rogers’s power punches.
But he assured that Rogers will step into the ring even if they have to source a fighter outside of Guyana.
