By Keith Idec
The lone loss on Jonathan Maicelo’s record left the Peruvian lightweight contender wondering whether he’d ever get the title shot he has dreamed about since childhood.
His perseverance paid off, however, and Maicelo has a chance Friday night to completely redeem himself less than two years after suffering an eighth-round knockout defeat to Russia’s Rustam Nagaev (27-7-1, 17 KOs). The 31-year-old Maicelo (21-1, 12 KOs, 1 NC), a North Bergen, N.J., resident, will challenge Colombia’s Darleys Perez (31-1, 20 KOs) for the interim WBA lightweight championship. ESPN2 will televise their 12-round fight as the main event of a “Friday Night Fights” broadcast from Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif. (9 p.m. ET).
“I feel my greatest asset is that mentally I’m strong,” Maicelo said. “Even though I lost, I remained mentally strong. I wanted to stand up and do better. It motivated me to say, ‘I still want to do this. I want to finish what I started.’ That’s why I feel I’m prepared to become world champion now.”
Maicelo defeated Armenia’s Art Hovhannisyan (17-2-2, 9 KOs) by split decision in his last fight, a 10-rounder July 11 in Shelton, Wash. ESPN2 also televised that fight, which resulted in the most noteworthy win of Maicelo’s nine-year pro career.
Perez, also 31, has lost only to former three-division champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (24-1, 17 KOs), who out-pointed Perez in a 12-rounder in June 2013 in Montreal.
“He’s a very good fighter,” Maicelo said of Perez. “I respect him. But in the ring, I don’t respect anybody. I’ve seen him fight. I know his weaknesses. Come [Friday night], people will see what his weaknesses are.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
