Omega pugs eager to fight under bright lights of Waterfront

Jhack Tepora (2nd from left) and Christian Araneta pose with Pio Paulo Castillo (left), president of OPSI, and Anders Hallden, general manager of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, in the press launching of “Who’s Next?” 4 Pro-Boxing Series yesterday. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

For the first time in its young history, the “Who’s Next?” Pro-Boxing Series will be going to the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino for its fourth installment on March 18.

Jhack Tepora and Christian “The Bomb” Araneta, the main characters in the double championship fight card, are thrilled to showcase their stuff in the “very popular venue.”

“Lahi jud siguro ang feeling kung sa Waterfront moaway. Excited na kaayo kay sikat man gud na nga lugar (It might be a different feeling fighting at Waterfront. I’m very excited since it is very popular place),” said Araneta during the card’s press launching yesterday in one of the board rooms of the hotel’s Business Center.

“I’ve fought once at Waterfront but I was just in the undercard. Now, I will be featured in the main event and I am really looking forward to it,” said Tepora.

Tepora fought at the Waterfront on May 3, 2014 where he scored a technical knockout win over Joas Apericio.

“For us to be part of this event is a great honor. It’s a big honor to partner with Omega. We want to do our part in promoting the sport and promoting Filipino fighters,” said Anders Hallden, the hotel’s general manager.

Tepora (19W-0L-0D-13KOs) and Araneta (13W-0L-0D-11KOs), unbeaten stalwarts of the Omega Boxing Gym, will be facing Indonesian opponents with the former taking on Yong Armed (14W-7L-0D-6KOs) and the latter battling Demsi Manufoe (11W-6L-0D-8KOs).

At stake in the Tepora-Armed duel is the Cebuano’s WBO Oriental junior featherweight belt, while Araneta and Manufoe will be contending for the WBO Oriental junior flightweight title.

Araneta will be facing his first-ever foreign opponent, while Tepora will be fighting an Indonesian opponent for the second straight time after beating Galih Susanto last year at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex.

“Foreign opponents for our Omega fighters will be the standard now. We are going to raise the bar,” said Rico Navarro, Vice President of the Omega Pro Sports International (OPSI).

OPSI President Pio Paulo Castillo said bringing in foreign opponents is part of OPSI’s thrust to promote quality fights.

“We even consult with WBO when we look for foreign opponents because our goal is to avoid one-sided match,” said Castillo.

Castillo and Navarro both agreed that Tepora is in a must-win situation as he continues his campaign to win a world crown.

“He is number 13 in the WBO ranking. We want him to move up to number 10 or nine. But more than the ranking, we want to see his readiness. We want to know when will he be ripe for a world title. So this upcoming fight is just one of his stepping stones,” said Navarro.

Tepora has been impressive in his recent outing but for Castillo, there is no need to rush.

“We want to take things fast but we also want to be sure of our moves. We really want to achieve our goal of winning a world title and it’s looking bright,” said Castillo.

The event at the Waterfront will mark for the first time that OPSI will be charging for tickets.

“This is to somehow defray the cost for promoting,” said Navarro.

Ticket prices are pegged at P500 (VIP), P300 (Gold) and P100 (Silver).

Other fights will have Salatiel Amit versus Renerio Arizala; Cris Rosales against Jerry Nardo; Jerry Castroverde versus Ryan Quimbo; Feljun Taneo against Jeffrey Stella; Marck Vicelles against Fabio Marfa and Marjun Piencenaves versus Rotillos.

OPSI is still finalizing a fight between Japanese Ogata Masayuki and Jhonrey Espinosa.