By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The U.S debut of WBO Oriental flyweight champion Richie Mepranum of Maasim, Sarangani in Mindanao has been buried by the Pacquiao fever which surrounds the “Dream Match” between the youngster’s province-mate Manny Pacquiao - and "The Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya.
In fact hardly any attention is being paid to the undercard which also features the sensational WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico who clashes with Sergio Manuel Medina, who was beaten by Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista in a WBO title eliminator on May 5, 2007. Also on the card is undefeated Victor “Vicious” Ortiz the fighter who was rumored to have beaten up De La Hoya in a sparring session some weeks ago.
There is some confusion as to the correct fight record of the southpaw Mepranum with boxrec.com indicating a 14-2-1, 3 KO record and other reports claiming that Mepranum’s record is 18-1-1 with 7 knockouts.
Mepramum will face Cesar “El Gallito” Lopez, a 25 year old fighter from El Paso , Texas with a record of 20-6 with 4 knockouts.
While Mepranum’s only loss was against Thailand’s tough Denkaosan Kaovichit (39-1, 16 KO’s) on September 14, 2007 after which he won five fights in a row including the WBO Oriental title in which he beat Tanzania’s Juma Fundi on points on June 14, 2008 , Lopez has lost his last three fights.
He was beaten by Isidro Garxcia in a bout for thevacant IBA title on April 17, 2007, lost to Japan ’s Koki Kameda by a lopsided ten round decision on July 28, 2007 and dropped an eight round unanimous decision to former WBC light flyweight champion Brian Viloria on February 16, 2008.
Lopez also lost by decision in a North American Boxing Association and vacant WBO North American Boxing Organization flyweight title bout to Glenn Donaire on May 5, 2006.
In his last fight on July 27 this year, Mepranum scored an eighth round unanimous decision over rugged Louie Bantigue.
