Although his first defense is in his “home”, the WBO 105-pound champion, Wilfredo “Bimbito” Méndez, feels no pressure to face Colombian Gabriel Mendoza on Saturday, October 26, on the “WBO Tournament of Champions” to be held at the Rubén Zayas Montañez Coliseum in Trujillo Alto, Puetro Rico in a presentation by PR Best Boxing Promotions (PRBBP) in association with Spartan Boxing.
The 22-year-old monarch will defend the belt he won last August against Filipino Vic Saludar, also on the Island, but this time, his first defense will not only be in Puerto Rico but in his town, Trujillo Alto.
“It doesn’t give me a lot of pressure, it makes me happy to think that a while ago I was in preparatory fights and taking experience to now fight as a world champion. That gives me a lot of energy, a lot of motivation. It doesn’t make me nervous, on the contrary, it gives me energy to look good before my people,” said the native of Trujillo Alto during a training he held for the media at the Caimito Municipal Gym in San Juan with his trainers Freddy Trinidad and Yowy González.
Méndez (14-1, 5 kos) will face the two-time Colombian world challenger Gabriel Mendoza (30-6-2, 23 kos) in which he will mark his fourth fight of 2019 and against a rival he doesn’t know.
“Against Saludar, we knew he had a punch, and we assimilated with boxing. I have not seen Mendoza but my team saw him and they know how to fight. That (watch the opponent) I leave to my team. We are going to fight smart, I am a technical boxer, I don’t have to stop fighting when I have excellent virtue and ability to box. I will do my best with the intelligence of my boxing,” explained Méndez, who after winning his world belt didn’t take several days off and began his preparation for this crash.
On the other hand, the undefeated Patrick Cora (8-0, 6 kos), who will face also unbeaten Luis Midyael Sánchez (8-0, 6 kos) at eight rounds and at 154 pounds, in an interesting and expected duel, emphasized in the important of this bout.
“I have prepared quite well since it is one of the most important fights of my career. With a victory I would be classified in the rankings. We have worked very hard together with the world champion Bimbito Méndez. Another thing we did was change the corner, now I am with Freddy Trinidad, who has helped me improve my style, to be more aggressive. These are things we are improving to achieve victory,” Cora said.
The rest of the action for next week will have the Dominican Felix Diaz (20-3, 10 kos), gold medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, facing the Mexican Darío Fermán (18-6, 15 kos) at 10 rounds and 147 pounds.
At 10 rounds, meanwhile, Dominican Yenifel Vicente (35-4-2, 27 kos) will fight against Mexican Victor Ruiz (23-10, 16 kos) at 122 pounds; six rounds, Puerto Rican John Correa (6-0, 5 kos) will face Mexican Edgardo Velázquez (12-0, 12 kos) at 154 pounds; eight rounds, Dominican Frency Fortunato (7-0, 6 kos) will face Mexican Marcos Muñiz (14-0, 11 kos) at 122 pounds.
Other fights of the program will be announced soon.
