On Friday night October 6th, Number-one WBO world rated cruiserweight and NABA, NABO and WBC continental Americas champ BJ Flores (28-1-1, 18 KO’s) scored another knockout victory when he stopped once-beaten David McNemar in front of a packed house at the Shrine Mosque in Springfield Missouri. Flores has now set his sights on highly regarded WBO champion Marco Huck of Germany.
“He is the champion and I am WBO #1 challenger. It’s no secret this is a fight I have wanted for a very long time”, said Flores
Over the last fourteen months, Flores has fought four times and looked very good in those outings. Flores has shown good power by knocking out 3 of his last 4 opponents and scoring multiple knockdowns in those fights. Flores says, “I know I needed to get better and improve. In order to be successful in this game you have to stay active and stay busy. Unfortunately this was something that I wasn’t able to accomplish before but now with the hometown crowd and fan base we can do shows in Springfield and keep me active and busy.”
If you look a bit deeper into Flores last 4 fights there is a little more than meets the eye. Nick Iannuzzi (16-2) who was coming off a very close and controversial loss to number-three world rated power puncher Lateef Kayode. Flores hurt Iannuzzi badly and knocked him down in the first round and battered him until the referee stopped the contest in the fifth.
Flores dominated journeyman Paul Jeanette (12-3) for ten rounds by scores of 100-90 on all three cards. Next up was Hugo Pineda (39-5) who was coming off an eight round decision loss to undefeated Russian prospect Jimmy Kapanov.
Flores dropped Pineda twice and scored a stoppage victory in the sixth round. Next up was McNemar (13-1). Flores dropped McNemar twice and the referee calling it off at 2:14 of the second round. McNemar was coming off a very close loss to undefeated and world rated Ryan Coyne (18-0). This type of opposition can keep Flores sharp and ready for the big opportunity when it comes.
“After Huck KO’s Firat Arslan I want him next. Huck is very tough and very well-conditioned. He is very strong and very confident. He has a great team around him and I respect him as a fighter. But any time he has fought anyone who can box he has had troubles. Steve Cunningham, Denis Lebedev and Ola Afolabi all gave him fits. I have quietly changed my entire boxing style. I have tried to fly under the radar and go back to the drawing board and get better. I have fought 4 times in the last year and feel sharp and ready. I have 3 KO’s against decent opposition. I WANT a step up! NO ONE will expect me to beat him. It will be an absolute shocker!!
There are some really good champions in this division and I know I will have to be at my best if I want to defeat a good champion in his home country. This will bring out the best in me. Sometimes I will go run 5 miles in the middle of the night just to keep me hungry. I work out at all times of the day and put my body through all kinds of torture to make sure I am ready when my moment arrives. Nothing worth having can be easy. I have taken my bumps and bruises and learned a lot in my professional career. I think about it every day and work tirelessly so that I can be prepared when my moment comes.”
