By Miguel Rivera
After several cancellations, the fight between world contender Emmanuel 'Manny' Rodríguez (15-0, 10 KO's) and former two-division world champion Omar 'Huracán' Narvaez (46-2-2, 24 KOs) Of Argentina will take place in Puerto Rico, on Saturday March 25 from the Parque Concepción Pérez Alberto, located in the town of Fajardo.
"There have been a lot of date changes that have been out of our control, but the important thing is that 'Manny' has not lost focus and now what we are working on is the TV for this great card," said excited promoter Juan Orengo of Fresh Productions.
The Rodriguez-Narváez bout will determine the mandatory challenger to the current IBF champion in the 118-pound category, Lee Haskins (34-3, 14 KO's) from England.
"I'm still focused because this is my job and the future of my family depends on this. It's not easy when they tell you that the fight continues to be canceled, but my team worked hard to make things right and now I'll fight in front of my people. I know that Narváez will be well prepared as he always is. My regards to him for his career. I hope that at the end of my career, I can have a trajectory that he has," Rodriguez said.
Narvaez has been world champion at 112 and 115 pounds. He is currently the current 118-pound IBF Latino champion so he is looking to reign in a third division. In his last performance in June 2016, the legendary Argentine boxer defeated Breilor Terán by unanimous decision.
Rodríguez, who is the first Puerto Rican to win a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games (Singapore 2010) is ranked third in the World Boxing Council, fourth in the IBF, eighth under the World Boxing Association (WBA) and # 10 by the World Boxing Organization.
In October 2014, the unbeaten boxer captured the WBO Latino title, after winning by first-round knockou over two-time National Champion of the United States and 11-time winner of the Philadelphia Golden Gloves, Miguel 'No Fear 'Cartagena de Filadelfia.
Rodríguez then won more notable victories over former world champions, Alberto 'Metro' Guevara of Mexico, Luis Hinojosa of the Dominican Republic and David Quijano of Puerto Rico.
