On Friday, April 27, in Miami, Oklahoma, the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalist and WBC Youth super featherweight World Champion, José “Sniper” Pedraza (7-0, 6KO’s), from Puerto Rico, will be opening the telecast of ShoBox: The New Generation, live at 11 p.m. Pedraza’s opponent, Gil García (5-2-1, 1KO), from Texas, recently fought to a controversial draw against undefeated Gabino Saenz (6-0, 5KO’s) and has a controversial majority decision loss to Jerry Belmontes (15-0, 5KO’s).
“García is a tough opponent that throws lots of punches, but we are more than ready for that. My condition is perfect, and we are very happy to be on a SHOWTIME fight,” says Pedraza. Pedraza’s WBC Youth super featherweight title will not be at stake.
Pedraza’s father, trainer and manager, Luis Espada, commented: “Pedraza is in great shape, near the weight limit, and the sparring with former world champ Rocky Martínez went great.”
Espada also talked about Pedraza’s opponent, Gil García: “I saw a video and he is an aggressive fighter that never backs down. Also, he has a controversial loss to Jerry Belmontes. We think García is a good fit for Pedraza’s development.”
The Pedraza vs. García bout is set for eight rounds at a maximum weight limit of 132 pounds.
Co-featuring the event is fellow Boricua, Luis “Orlandito” del Valle (15-0, 11 KO’s), who will be going against Christopher Martin (23-1-3, 6 KO’s) in a 10-round fight in the super bantamweight division.
The boxing card, which is promoted by DiBella Entertainment, will be held at the Buffalo Run Casino, and will feature the main event fight between current IBO super middleweight champion Thomas Oosthuizen (18-0, 13 KO’s) and Marcus Johnson (23-1, 12 KO’s).
Pedraza and Del Valle are members of “Team Puerto Rico”, which is a collaboration between Gary Shaw Productions, DiBella Entertainment, Universal Promotions and Warriors Boxing, made with the goal of gathering the best of Puerto Rico’s boxing talents.
