By Ben Jacobs
José Pedraza (18-0, 12 KOs) has been flying under the radar somewhat since he turned professional in 2011. The Puerto Rican has perhaps been overshadowed by some of his other talented countrymen such as Thomas Dulorme and Felix Verdejo, but he has built a solid record defeating a series of fighters who posses winning records, something that prospects do not often do. Promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, DiBella Entertainment and Javier Bustillo. Pedraza has also fought numerous times in the United States, and even once in Canada, experiences that will likely stand him in good stead when the tougher fights occur.
"I'm pleased with my progress so far, we've seen a lot of improvements in my game," he told BoxingScene.
"Myself and my camp have noticed that, and fans and other trainers have told us that I've improved a lot and they've seen a lot of changes. Although, I've been a bit inactive this year."
Pedraza will have fought a respectable four times by the end of this year, nevertheless he feels he could have made more ring appearances in 2014 given that two of his fights ended early. In 2013 he also fought four times whereas in 2012 he competed on five occasions.
"The fights that I've had have been short, I won in the first and seven rounds in my last two. I would have liked a maximum of six fights."
Back in July, 'Sniper' stopped sturdy Mexican Juan Carlos Martínez who has shared the ring with the likes of Mikey García and Antonio DeMarco.
"It's not often that a Mexican quits in the ring because they have a reputation for being warriors and never giving up. We won thanks to the training that we did and we executed it in the fight. We worked the body and the head, it was a complete job.
"There are a lot of prospects that always fight guys with losing records, however I am fighting guys with winning records and, not only that, they show in the ring that they are good boxers and this makes me proud because I know that I'm getting better. You get better with good fighters, not with bad ones. Each fight I try to get stronger.
"I might not get the publicity that other boxers have but there are some fighters out there who make a lot of noise. I make little noise but there's a lot more of me to come and people will hear more from me."
To close out the year, Pedraza will battle Filipino puncher, Michael Farenas (39-4-4, 31 KOs) in Puerto Rico which will be an IBF eliminator. That suggests that the Caguas man is not far away from a world title challenge should he emerge with the win.
"Michael Farenas is a high calibre boxer, he's very good," Pedraza opined.
"He's a warrior, he comes right to you and puts a lot of pressure on you. He's fought great names like Yuriorkis Gamboa and if I'm not mistaken he dropped him twice. That's what we want, to fight quality boxers so that people can see what I can do. The better the opponent, the better I fight."
José's physical stature suggests that he will be more than capable in the future of climbing up in weight class, something which the 25-year-old already has planned for the coming years.
"In terms of weight I have noticed physical changes so I have had to try that much harder in training to make 130lbs. I think soon we'll go up to 135lbs, it's just a question of time. But I want to win a world title at my current weight, defend it a few times and then move up."
