Jose Pedraza in Top Form, Very Ready To Take on Gervonta Davis

By Miguel Rivera

Two weeks to go before his next title defense, and after several months of uncertainty, Jose Pedraza had a twelve round sparring session yesterday that ended the main stage of his training for his fight on January 14 at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Pedraza (22-0, 12 KOs) will make the third defense of his super featherweight of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), this time against undefeated rising contender Gervonta Davis (16-0, 15 KOs), a fighter who belongs to Mayweather Promotions, which is run by former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

For the 27-year-old Pedraza, who is represented by promoter Lou DiBella, it will be his first bout since he defeated Stephen Smith at Foxwoods Resorts in Mashantucket, Connecticut on the 16th of April. Since then he's had several offers and options for fights, but nothing came together until now.

"The [main stage of the] camp is over," was the first reaction of Luis Espada, father and trainer of the Puerto Rican champion, to El Vocero.

At the Carolina Sports School, Pedraza had seven rounds of sparring with Néstor Bravo, and five rounds against the elusive Starling Cordero - who are young prospects trained by Jose Bonilla. They are right-handed but worked left-handed to simulate Davis' style.

In the process Pedraza also sparred with Alberto Machado and Felix 'La Sombra' Caraballo, among others, as part of an accumulation of over 100 rounds of preparation for combat.

"I'm very happy because I'm already very low in weight and already today (yesterday) we finished the main load completely. And with all the work load, lowering in weight, we worked 12 rounds very well, throwing many blows, using a lot of waist and moving laterally. I'm really happy with the work I did ... they made me move and work a very intelligent fight," said Pedraza.

"It is a relief because they were many months of preparation, of sparring ... a lot of time of training. We stayed active and already we are lowering the intensity.

According to Espada, Pedraza has already gotten down to 137 pounds without any major problems or feeding limitations.

"It has been a long camp due to the changes of opponents and dates that we have had, but we have never stopped working and that has helped us to maintain the weight and the good condition," said the coach.