By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Despite his unanimous decision loss to Japan’s Nobuhito Honmo in a battle for the vacant OPBF super featherweight title last Saturday in which he suffered two cuts, one caused by a clear head-butt Jimrex Jaca will see action on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Oscar Larios showdown at the Araneta Coliseum on July 2.
Jaca’s manager Rex “Wakee” Salud who is involved in drawing up the card for the July 2 Mano-A-Mano between Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao and former two-time super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios said “the cuts were small and won’t be a problem.”
Salud, a close friend and confidant of Pacquiao said Jaca was back in the gym working out shortly after his return from Tokyo and definitely see action on July 2 despite the loss which was only his second setback as against 26 wins and 1 draw with 12 knockouts.
The 22 year old Jaca will clash with Mexico’s 25 year old Adrian Valdez who has a ring record of 17-5-3 with 9 knockouts. Valdez last fought on October 14, 2005 when he dropped a majority decision to former world champion Cesar Soto who twice fought Filipino great and former world champion Luisito Espinosa who won the first to retain his title but lost a controversial hometown decision in El Paso, Texas in a rematch.
