THE UNBEATEN “Prince” Albert Pagara of the ALA Boxing Gym expressed confidence that he can beat a battle-hardened Mexican opponent on July 9 at the San Mateo Events Center in San Mateo, California USA.
Pagara will be facing Cesar Juarez in his second fight abroad.
Suarez (17-5, 13KOs) is the same fighter who fought Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Super-bantamweight title in Puerto Rico last year.
Heavy underdog in the fight, Suarez held his ground against Donaire before losing via unanimous decision.
But for Pagara, beating Suarez is not going to be a problem.
“Donaire Jr. had difficulties fighting him but for me it’s going to be an easy fight because Juarez is a one-dimensional boxer who always comes and pressures you. That kind of an opponent is the best fit for my style,” said Pagara during a dinner with a group of sportswriters last Saturday.
Pagara (26-0, 18KOs) will leave for Manila today to attend a press briefing before heading to Los Angeles, USA to train at the Wild Card Gym of boxing trainer Freddie Roach.
“This is a very important fight for me because I’m just a step away from a world title shot. I can sense it and feel it that I will soon fight for a world title,” said Pagara.
“I asked for this fight for a long time already and I thank my promoters for giving me the chance to fight him (Juarez),” said Pagara.
Interestingly, Pagara is ranked number two in the WBO super bantamweight division where Donaire is the champion.
Pagara said he is ready in case he and Donaire cross paths.
Against Juarez, Pagara said his best weapon would be his stamina .
“Nonito’s father told me that they were not prepared to fight Juarez for 12 rounds. They thought they could knock Juarez out early that’s why I am focusing more on my stamina and footwork for this fight. I am confident that I will do better than Donaire in this fight but I can’t promise a knockout.
Let’s just see that on fight night,” added Pagara.
Pagara added he already sparred with Donaire Jr. when the latter was training for his latest fight against Zsolt Bedak last month.
“This fight is going to be way better than Donaire’s because I will defeat Juarez. For me, he is not the toughest opponent I will fight but he is really interesting. I keep on watching his previous fights on tapes and I rarely do that when I have a fight,” added Pagara.