Unbeaten Tepora gears up for first overseas match
After weeks of intensive training in Baguio City, unbeaten Jhack “El Capitan” Tepora of Omega Boxing Gym is now in East London, South Africa for the biggest test of his career.
The 24-year-old Tepora is set to fight Lusanda Komanisi for the WBO international featherweight tomorrow at the Oriental Theatre, trying to remain spotless in a fight that is expected to determine his future.
Tepora sports an impressive record of 20-0-0 (win-loss-draw) with 15 wins by knockouts. He will be fighting outside the country for the first time.
“This fight will be a stepping stone for his career. We want him to be in a word title fight if he is successful in this one,” said Omega Pro Sports International president Pio Paulo Castillo.
Tepora arrived in South Africa with his brother Jellyper “Jing-jing” Tepora and Omega Boxing Gym head trainer Jinggoy Junco.
The prized boxer of Omega Boxing Gym last saw action against Yon Armed of Indonesia at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino last March, disposing the latter in just 76 seconds.
He has since been raring to meet tougher challenges as he continues his quest for a world title crown.
No test is bigger for the former national team member in Komanisi, the 27-year-old South African world champion who owns a 21-3-0 record with an impressive 18 knockouts.
Komanisi has stopped eight of his nine foes with only Roli Gasca going the distance when they met for the IBO world featherweight title on December 15, 2014.
However, in their rematch immediately after that fight, Komanisi stopped Gasca to retain his belt.
Komanisi was inactive for almost two years but came back with a bang, completing another knockout win over Tello Dithebe on July 2, 2017.
Omega Pro sports has been grooming Tepora for years and has made him their headliner in their signature boxing series, “Who’s Next?.”
However, his career got stalled when Omega was forced to cancel their “Who’s Next?” event in Bohol due to an injury sustained by his teammate Christian Araneta during their training camp.
Araneta was supposed to be in the co-main event.
Tepora was supposed to defend his WBO Oriental super bantamweight belt against the dangerous Emmanuel Dominguez in that fight.
But the cancelation has turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Tepora will now test the waters in the featherweight division in his first oversees fight.
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