By Dennis 'dSource' Guillermo
WBC Silver minimumweight champion Denver "The Excitement" Cuello (29-4-6, 19 KOs) is itching to upgrade his belt buckle in 2012 to the shinier gold version.
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And while the WBC ordered a mandatory final eliminator for the #2 ranked Cuello against the #1 minimumweight contender Ganigan Lopez (20-4, 14 KOs) to face current champ Kazuto Ioka of Japan, his manager Aljoe Jaro is planning a tune-up fight for his ward on Feb. to keep him sharp.
Negotiations have been ordered by the WBC for the fight, and if an agreement is not met, there will be a purse bid on February 3 in Mexico City for the Cuello-Lopez eliminator.
"We're very busy these days. I am arranging a tune-up fight for Denver on Feb. 18, before the title eliminator on April 7. God-willing, if we win both fights, the mandatory world title fight will be in July," Jaro said.
The courageous and hard-hitting Cuello has been patiently waiting for his opportunity, taking on each challenge presented to him, and is riding an 8-fight winning streak after a bizzare disqualification in Mexico in May of 2010, wherein he dropped Juan Hernandez (recently loss to Ioka by UD) in the third round, coming back from being dropped himself in the 2nd. Cuello inadvertently hit his bloody opponent while he was down, leading to his DQ loss. All of Cuello's 8 wins have been by KO, and has been making waves both in the Philippines and Mexico for his performances.
Recently, Cuello wrote an open letter to the champ Ioka, asking him to come out and play:
"You can call the shots. I can fight you in Japan, even in front of your house. You can choose any judge and it’s okay even if all judges and the referee were your relatives. I can also fight you without any purse. Just provide plane tickets, hotel and food for me, my manager and my trainer. I don’t care about the money. I only want a shot at your belt. I have been ranked within the top five for years but was never given the chance to fight for that belt. Now should be the right time. I am calling you Kazuto Ioka, your manager, your promoter and anybody in your team. Let’s make this happen," Cuello wrote as published on Philboxing.com.
It's safe to say that this kid will stop at nothing to get the title he has been aiming for years.
"This is our dream. We have been working hard to get this world title, and now that I can finally smell it within reach, I will do everything that it takes to be a World Champion," Cuello told me while I was in Manila last November.
Dennis 'dSource' Guillermo is a prolific boxing writer. Follow him on Twitter , and for an archive of his work click here . You e-mail him at DennisGuillermo2@yahoo.com
