By Miguel Rivera
Former world champion Jose "Sniper" Pedraza will not have to wait long to return to the ring. The Puerto Rican boxer is on schedule to challenge Mexican fighter Antonio "Tono" Moran for the Latin belt of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds.
The fight will take place on June 9 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event of that ESPN+ card will feature Terence Crawford challenging Jeff Horn for the WBO welterweight world title.
"We received a communication that Jose will be part of the Terence Crawford undercard. We're going to fight for the Latino belt with the possibility of it being a world title eliminator," said Luis Espada, Pedraza's stepfather and coach, to Carlos Gonzalez.
Pedraza (23-1, 12 KO) returned to the winning route last March when he defeated José Luis Rodríguez by unanimous decision at the Hulu Theater in New York City. That, together with the fact that he signed a promotional contract with Top Rank, has placed the Puerto Rican fighter in a position to pursue another world title fight.
Currently, Reymundo Beltrán is the WBO champion in the lightweight division. He is also promoted by Top Rank.
"If José beats Morán, that world title fight could come for the fall. Definitely, before the end of 2018 he will fight for a championship," said Espada.
"Everything will depend on how it comes out of the fight against Moran, but we would be looking for October or November."
Morán (23-2, 16 KO) conquered the WBO Latino belt last October when he beat Salvador Briseno by knockout in the second round.
"I've seen Morán and he fits well with Pedraza's boxing style. We started working right away after the last fight because we knew there was a possibility that he would return in May or June. Soon we will be looking for tall fighters to help us with sparring," concluded Espada.
