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| Charly Suarez tries to get a shot at Emanuel Navarrete's WBO junior lightweight belt against fellow unbeaten Andres Cortes. Ivan Saldajeno |
QUEZON CITY—Charly Suarez looks to make one giant step toward world title contention as he battles American opponent Andres Cortes in a 10-round showdown on Sept. 21 (Philippine Time) at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
The said clash will be a "someone's gotta yield" battle as both fighters will enter the showdown with perfect records.
Suarez, a three-time Southeast Asian Games champion, is now 17-0 as a pro as he tries to win his first world title at age 36.
"Tama yung kasabihan na huwag mong isipin yung edad mo at i-enjoy mo kung saan ka," Suarez said when he met reporters on Friday at the Pandan Asian Cafe here.
Standing in his way, though, is the 27-year-old Cortes, winner of 22 consecutive bouts to start his career, 12 via knockout including a four-round finish against Bryan Chevalier last February.
“Ever since the [Abraham] Nova fight, I’ve been working on my craft in the gym. I’m showing the world my full arsenal on Sept. 20,” said Cortes, who beat Nova via unanimous decision last June.
“I want a world title shot soon, and I need to earn it with a devastating performance over Suarez.”
Reigning WBO 130-pound king Emanuel Navarrete could be a keen spectator of the Suarez-Cortes bout as the winner could face him next with the world title belt on the line.
Navarrete, though, failed to win his last two bouts, settling for a draw against Robson Conceicao in his junior lightweight title defense and dropping a split decision to Denis Berynchyk for the WBO 135-pound belt.
Navarrete's recent struggles could inspire Suarez and Cortes to go all out in their virtual title eliminator.
The Suarez-Cortes match will serve as the co-feature bout of a 12-round affair pitting former world title contender Jamie Munguia and Erik Bazinyan.
Munguia looks to quickly go back into the world title picture after losing his bid to take the IBF, WBC, and WBO super middleweight titles away from Canelo Alvarez last May.
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