By Rey Danseco
NEWLY-CROWNED Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super bantamweight champion Rolly “Matsushita” Lunas of the Philippines has three big fights in the works for 2009.
Lunas has verbally agreed to fight former WBC super bantamweight champion Israel “El Magnifico” Vazquez of Mexico on April 23, at a venue in the United States.
Vazquez’s American handler Frank Espinoza offered Lunas’s Japanese manage,r Naoyuki Kashimi, to put their fighters in a 10-round bout, with the winner possibly get a shot in a world title fight.
“Seems like this will be an eliminator between me and Vazquez,” Lunas told Bagong Tiktik Sports/BoxingScene.com in an interview from his based in Kanazawa, Japan.
The winner in Lunas-Vazquez contest may take the shot against the survivor between WBC super bantamweight king Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan and former World Boxing Organization champion Jhonny Gonzalez of Mexico.
While that fight remains without a contract, Lunas stays focused in his scheduled first title defense against number 14 ranked Japanese challenger Hiromasa Ohashi. The fight, which guaranteed Lunas a $10,000 purse, is slated for June 21 in Nagoya.
The 25-year old pride of Tabaco City was already informed that his second title defense will be a rematch against his previous victim who he took the title belt as substitute challenger.
Lunas will be facing Wethya Sakmuangklang of Thailand sometime in October. Lunas snatched the belt from the rugged Thai with split decision at City Sogo Gym in Kanazawa on January 11.
The WBC currently ranks Lunas No. 3 among super bantamweights under Nishioka and behind No. 1 contender Rafael Marquez and Gonzalez.
