Friday, January 26th 2024
Jose Pedraza: “I Am Not a Stepping Stone!”
Pedraza returns against Keyshawn Davis on Thursday, February 8 at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas
Davis-Pedraza will serve as the co-feature to the junior welterweight showdown between WBO and Ring Magazine world champion Teofimo Lopez and Jamaine Ortiz.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Takeover Promotions and CES Boxing, tickets are on sale now at AXS.com.
Lopez-Ortiz and Davis-Pedraza will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.
Pedraza (29-5-1, 14 KOs) captured the IBF junior lightweight world title against Andrey Klimov in June 2015 and made two successful title defenses. He then became a two-division champion by defeating Rey Beltran to earn the WBO lightweight world title in August 2018. After losing the belt in a unification showdown against Vasiliy Lomachenko, he moved up to 140 pounds, where he gave stiff tests to Jose Zepeda, Jose Ramirez, Richard Commey, Lindolfo Delgado and Arnold Barboza Jr. Pedraza hopes for another world title opportunity as he returns to the lightweight division. Davis (9-0, 6 KOs), a U.S. Olympic silver medalist, returns following his October majority decision win over Nahir Albright, which was later ruled a no contest.
This is what Pedraza and his trainer, Luis Espada, had to say at yesterday’s workout:
JOSÉ “SNIPER” PEDRAZA
“He is a very talented young man with many skills. But he has the typical American style of moving a lot and counterpunching. He is very selective with his punches and uses his speed very well. I hope he comes well prepared because I am prepared to put on a great performance that will catapult me into the lightweight world title conversation. I want to become a world champion for a third time and cement my legacy in Puerto Rican boxing history.”
LUIS ESPADA
“I am certain that we are well prepared because for this camp we did something we had never done before, which was a 36-minute sparring session without rest with three different sparring partners. Every two minutes a fresh sparring partner entered, and Pedraza performed very well in the last minute as if it were the first minute of sparring. I can assure you that he is in optimal condition.”