by Ronnie Nathanielsz
Impressed by Jason Pagara’s twelve round unanimous decision over talented and resilient Mexican banger Aaaron “The Jewel” Herrera in which Pagara retained his WBO International light welterweight title. Top Rank promoter wants to feature the young Filipino in his first fight card in Singapore later this year.
Arum told BoxingScene.com.Manila Standard he wants to match Pagara against WBC No. 6 ranked Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation champion Min Wook Kim of South Korea who has a record of 10-1 with 7 knockouts in what Arum believes should be “a terrific fight.”
Kim won the OPBF title with a 2nd round TKO of tough Filipino Romeo Jakosalem on May 28 last year and had three successful title defenses including a 2nd round TKO over another Filipino Dan Nazareno on November 26, 2012 and a twelve round unanimous decision over Shinya Iwabuchi in Tokyo last April 21.
Arum also mentioned the possibility of a title fight against WBC champion Danny Garcia down the road should Pagara beat Kim, impressively.
The Top Rank promoter who is moving many of his title fights to Macau and Singapore because of the attraction of much kinder tax structures compared to the US and the growing interest in boxing in such huge markets as China. He said “this week we will get the first date from Singapore.”
ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer welcomed the increasing interest of Top Rank in the ALA boxers even as he cautioned that Pagara “needs to be exposed more and train and spar in the United States” which is the next step in ALA Promotions vision for the near future.
