By Keith Idec
NEWARK, N.J. – The last time Michel Soro traveled from France to the United States for a fight, he had to settle for a majority draw with undefeated middleweight prospect Antoine Douglas.
Soro is sure he defeated Douglas (17-0-1, 11 KOs) in that 10-round middleweight match July 25 in Verona, N.Y. He doesn’t expect his return to America to end similarly when he faces Glen Tapia on Friday night in a 10-round junior middleweight fight at Newark’s Prudential Center (TruTV, 10 p.m. ET), about 15 minutes from Tapia’s hometown of Passaic, N.J.
“I’m going to have to dig deeper, be the busier fighter,” Soro said through a translator. “I don’t think this fight is going the distance. Someone is getting knocked out.”
Soro (25-1-1, 15 KOs) hasn’t lost by knockout since he turned pro in October 2008. He suffered his lone loss to Russia’s Zaurbek Baysangurov (29-1, 21 KOs), who beat Soro by unanimous decision in a 12-round fight for the WBO 154-pound championship in May 2012.
James Kirkland dealt Tapia (23-1, 15 KOs) his only professional defeat, a sixth-round knockout 17 months ago at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Tapia has won each of his three fights by technical knockout since Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) defeated him in a bout HBO televised.
“The Kirkland fight was a very tough fight for him,” Soro said. “I think the ref [Steve Smoger] should’ve stopped the fight earlier. But it was a good fight. He went on a winning streak after that loss, but those were easy fights.”
Tapia, 25, acknowledged the 27-year-old Soro will be his toughest opponent since losing to Kirkland.
“He’s real quick and he’s a good counter-puncher,” said Tapia, who’s trained by Freddie Roach. “He’s a real durable guy and he’s coming here to beat me. He’s not just an opponent. It’s going to be a good fight.”
Tapia, who is ranked No. 2 by the WBO and No. 6 by the IBF, hopes a win against Soro moves him closer to a world title shot. They’ll fight for Tapia’s NABO 154-pound title and the vacant USBA championship.
“This is a good opportunity for me,” Soro said. “Fighting here, in his backyard, it gives me more motivation. I really want to win. Beating Tapia in his backyard is going to be huge for me. He’s a good boxer. I’m better than him, but it’s going to be a good fight.”
Tonight’s TruTV telecast is scheduled to begin with a 10-round light heavyweight bout between Sean Monaghan (23-0, 15 KOs), of Long Beach, N.Y., and Brazil’s Cleiton Conceicao (20-6-2, 16 KOs). TruTV also will televise taped coverage of an undercard bout that’ll pit highly regarded junior welterweight prospect Julian Rodriguez (9-0, 8 KOs) against Miami’s Peter Oluoch (14-8-2, 8 KOs) in an eight-rounder.
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.
