By Ryan Songalia
Despite rumors that former light flyweight champion Giovani Segura will face Mexican compatriot Julio Cesar "Pingo" Miranda on September 15, neither Segura or his manager Richard Mota are particularly keen on the idea.
Segura, 28-1-1 (24 KO), is the mandatory challenger for newly-crowned WBO flyweight titlist Brian Viloria (29-3, 16 KO), who defeated Miranda last month to lift the belt. Segura's team says that they will fight for the interim belt because Viloria is unable to fight due to a cut suffered in his last fight, but that they don't want Miranda.
"I don't think I'll fight Miranda," said Segura. "If I fight, it'll be somebody else."
While Segura's manager Richard Mota reasons that the fight with Miranda could hurt interest in a Viloria-Segura clash, Segura seems to resent being passed over by Miranda for Viloria for a title shot, despite him being the mandatory challenger.
"He didn't give me the opportunity [when he was champion], but now he wants to fight me," said Segura, who is now based out of Bell, Calif.
"Let's say Giovani fights 'Pingo' and Giovani knocks him out in 3-4 rounds, what's that going to say about the Viloria fight?," said Mota. "I feel like it's a sword with both ends. If it's a tough fight and Giovani gets cut, then they have to postpone the fight."
"I'd rather fight 'Pingo' down the line because we were the mandatory, not Viloria. Viloria won so now that's the big fight."
Mota said he had spoken to their promoter Fernando Beltran Sr. of the Mexico-based Zanfer Promotions about bypassing Miranda for another opponent, namely the WBO's #3 contender Wilbert Uicab (33-5-1, 18 KO), also of Mexico, but that they haven't received a call back yet.
Mota said that while September 15 has been the date mentioned to him, the location hasn't been confirmed yet. He says that an offer had been made by the local Mexicali government, but that recently Segura's native state of Guerrero, Mexico has shown interest in staging the fight in Acapulco.
An email to WBO President Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel was not returned by Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News and the Filipino Reporter newspaper in New York City. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia .