By Miguel Rivera
José 'Sniper' Pedraza was planning to make a jump to 140 pounds, but the move is going to occur earlier than he had planned.
Because there was no opportunity to challenge one of the champions at 135 pounds, the Puerto Rican boxer has decided that the course of action is to try his luck in the junior welterweight division.
And on September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Pedraza will return on the undercard to the heavyweight bout between Tyson Fury and Otto Wallin.
Last May, Pedraza defeated Mexico's Antonio Lozada by technical knockout to seize the Latino belt of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) that was vacant.
"The plans were to stay at 135 pounds for at least this year to see if a headline fight arose, but the plans were advanced," Pedraza (26-2, 13 KO) confirmed to Carlos Gonzalez.
His aspiration was to reach an agreement to add a third world championship, but he will instead face José 'Chon' Zepeda (30-2, 25 KO).
“It must be an interesting fight. Physically I should feel good. When I was at 130 pounds, for the night of the fight I went up to 140 and also at 135 I was between 145 and 147 pounds. So in this fight it doesn't matter if what I get is five or six pounds [more on my body], ” Pedraza explained.
"My goal is to become a champion in each of the divisions where I'm at."
The only thing that could tempt Pedraza to return at 135 pounds would be an opportunity to measure his skills with Vasiliy Lomachenko for a second time.
The Ukrainian defeated Pedraza by unanimous decision in December 2018 in a lightweight unification.
“I am one of those people who does not look back once I've taken a path that will be helpful for me, such as fulfilling the goal of being champion in the next division. What would bring back would be a rematch with Lomachenko,” concluded Pedraza.
