While most Puerto Ricans remain refugees in their homes as a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, two-time world champion Jose 'Sniper' Pedraza does his best to continue preparing for his next engagement in the ring.
Pedraza has on his agenda a showdown withe Javier 'El Intocable' Molina during an event that is tentatively scheduled for the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California, on May 9.
The card is headlined by Jose Ramirez making a mandatory defense against Viktor Postol.
While most boxing cards have been canceled for March and April, and even the first week of May, there has been no word about the card on May 9.
“Nothing has been said about the May fight, about whether it has been canceled. Nothing new has been said, so I have kept training. Fortunately I have had the gym for myself only to avoid contact with other people. In the afternoons, I run alone and it is the best thing that has happened because there are no people on the streets,” said Pedraza to Carlos Gonzalez.
Pedraza, a world champion at 130 and 135 pounds, hopes to win another belt at junior welterweight. He suffered a decision loss in his last fight, to Jose Zepeda last September.
The Cidra fighter explained that his routine is limited to leaving his residence to the gym and back.
“We try to entertain ourselves and sleep as much as possible. Sometimes we hang out with a board game because we've already watched all the movies and series on Netflix and Disney +. In (school) homework I don't help much. I have left that to my wife with the homeschooling modules,” Pedraza said.
“Before I started, I had decided that I would do the quartering at home to have more concentration in training. I've been able to be more focused. We had discussed the possibility of training off the Island for a month before the fight. A great possibility was to go to Las Vegas (Nevada) because there we have a chef and the gym that we can use.
“Concentration and training is handled like I'm going to fight on May 9th. What we think is when the date gets closer, they will give us new news. Meanwhile we will continue training, although we have in mind that they change the date."