By Dennis 'dSource' Guillermo
They sure did pack all the courage, fire, and of course excitement in WBC Silver minimumweight champion Denver "The Excitement" Cuello's 105 lb. frame as evidenced by his tenacity inside the ring.
Considered as the most avoided man in the minimumweight division, Cuello has gobbled up top opposition like peanuts in the past couple of years, making quick work of contenders like Ganigan Lopez, Carlos Perez and Omar Soto.
One particular champion avoiding Cuello is Japanese WBC minimumweight title holder Kazuto Ioka. Cuello has been calling out Ioka for more than a year, and even wrote the champ and open letter challenging him to a fight. But now that Cuello has dispatched his mandatory fight and a showdown is set with Ioka, the Japanese who is fresh from a unification bout win over Akira Yaegashi to nab the WBA belt last week, is stating that he will be moving up to 108, which will make Cuello the champion by default.
"I am his mandatory, so I want him to fight me," Cuello told this scribe in an interview at the Jaro Boxing Gym a few weeks ago. "He won't even finish a round with me," he added.
Asked who he wanted to fight if Ioka continues to duck him, Cuello said he wants to move up and capture belts at the jr. flyweight division against no less than undefeated Nicaraguan WBA champion Roman Gonzalez.
"I told my promoter Eddie Reynoso if I fight in Las Vegas, I want it to be Roman Gonzalez right away," said the fearless 24-year-old ilonggo. "I want to fight the best, and everybody says Gonzalez is a great fighter, because he is undefeated. I want to test myself against him."
