Albert Pagara (left) and Cesar Juarez (right). | Facebook and Boxrec photos
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The much-anticipated rematch between “Prince” Albert Pagara and his Mexican tormentor, Cesar Juarez, is one step closer from happening.
This was after MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons and MP Promotions founder and boxing’s only eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao were seen congratulating Juarez in a short video posted on Facebook recently.
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In the video Gibbons was seen calling out Juarez “Cesar the champ is watching your fight, mucho corazon. He knows something about Mexican fighters,” said Gibbons.
Pacquiao then gave Juarez a thumbs up saying “Mucho Corazon, moy rapido” said Pacquiao which translates in English as ‘a lot of heart’.
This was after Juarez engaged American Maliek Montgomery in an epic eight round battle last June 28 in Atlanta City, Georgia. Although Juarez lost the fight by unanimous decision, he won the hearts of boxing fans, including Pacquiao and Gibbons.
With that in mind, MP Promotions, according to a post from Viva Promotions of Gibbons’ son, Brendan, that the former is willing to set a rematch between Juarez and Pagara.
To recall, Juarez and Pagara collided in 2016 back when the latter was on the peak of his career with the ALA Boxing Gym.
They fought for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Inter-Continental super bantamweight title held by Pagara then.
Shockingly, Juarez knocked out Pagara in the eighth round, inflicting the latter’s first and only defeat in pro boxing.
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Fast forward to 2024, Pagara recently won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Asia lightweight title against Chinese Aketelieti Yelejian by majority decision in Iloilo City.
Pagara wants to redeem his once-promising career after a long hiatus by challenging Juarez for a rematch he announced last month.
He also got the backing of Cebuano boxing promoter Lorenzo “Chao” Sy in setting up the rematch.
Pagara holds a record of 35 wins, 24 knockouts, and one loss, while Juarez has a 29-16 (win-loss) slate with 22 knockouts.