By Rey Danseco
 
WORLD Boxing Organization Asia pacific champion Rexon Flores will face difficult times in his bid to become the 12th Filipino world flyweight champion.

Flores (16-2-4, 8 KOs) left Manila for Argentina around 8:40 pm Saturday night in preparation for his first crack at a world title against unbeaten WBO flyweight champion Omar “The Huraccane” Narvaez (21-0-2, 15 KOs) in a mandatory fight on August 4 (Aug. 5 in Manila) at the modern Super Domo Orfeo in Argentina’s second largest City of Cordoba, 700 kilometers Northwest of Buenos Aires.

The top ranked Filipino contender will tangle a grueling 45-hour trip with four stopovers begore reaching the high altitude Cordoba, a City with 1.3 inhabitants and situated 1,555 feet above sea level and has current dew point of minus two (-2) degress centigrade and windchill of 0° C (NOTE: this is correct, ZERO DEGREES C.)

Compared to Baguio City where current dew point is 19° C. The dew point in Paranaque City where Flores was accustomed is 26° C yesterday, according to the website Weather.com.

Flores is confident of his chances despite the fact that he will also have his first fight in a front of a hostile crowd.

Thinking it will be the biggest break in his five-year boxing career, Flores looks to his poor family in Cadiz City as inspiration of taking them out of poverty to end Narvaez’s title defenses to seven since taking the belt from Nicaragua’s Adonis Rivas in July 2002.

“Pagsikapan ko talaga na makuha ito, kasi minsan lang ito,” said Flores in exclusive interview before he boarded with manager Gabriel “Bebot” Elorde Jr., and trainers Erbito Salavarria and Ruel Morata last night.

Flores has packed his bags with a borrowed leather jacket worth $500 from Korea and five sweatshirts from New York, from his manager. Flores also has four Philippine-made jogging pants and two rubber shoes.

On the other hand, the 31-year old Narvaez is motivated with American promoter Gary Shaw’s offer of a well-paid unification fight with International Boxing Federation flyweight champ Vic Darchinyan of Australia sometime in October in the United States if he wins against Flores.

Team Flores, who will be belittled at the 10-storey King David Flat Hotel in Cordoba, will pass on 26 hours of flying and 19 hours of stopovers at airports in Sydney, New Zealand, and Buenos Aires before reaching Cordoba, which is known for modern disco houses and lively night life destinations.

Elorde had tried to buy four tickets with a shorter route via Hong Kong, but the Argentinean promoter and Narvaez’s handler Mario Margossián don’t want to pay for it and instead insisted the longer route.

There are 11 Filipinos who previously held the flyweight world titles from the time of Francisco “Pancho Villa” Guilledo on May 18, 1923 until Malcolm Tunacao wore the World Boxing Council belt from May 19, 2000 to March 2, 2001.