by Tamas Pradarics

Former light flyweight world champion Pedro Guevara is finally getting his well-earned shot at reigning WBC 108-pound belt holder Ken Shiro.

The mandatory title bout is scheduled to take place on the undercard of a loaded boxing event headlined by middleweight superstar Ryota Murata’s rematch against WBA regular titlist Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam on October 22 in Tokyo, Japan.

Guevara (30-2-1, 17 KOs) owned the Mexican-based sanctioning body belt between 2014 and 2015 until he was forced to leave it in Japan following a highly controversial split decision loss to now-retired Yu Kimura.

The 29-year-old Mexican pugilist has spent the last over one year as the mandatory challenger by the WBC while he was desperately trying to secure his shot to regain what he believes belongs to him.

”I am very excited because it is an opportunity to become world champion again. And all this in a card where middleweight contender Ryota Murata’s title challenge going to take place too,” said a now anxious Guevara to BoxingScene.com.

The WBC title changed hands this past May and negotiations were ongoing shortly after the World Boxing Council made it clear the 25-year-old Shiro (10-0, 5 KOs) is forced to defend his green-and-gold belt first against his mandatory challenger. It was a long and difficult process for Guevara and his promoter, former multiple times boxing champ Erik Morales.

”After attending the SuperFly card [on September 9 in Carson, California] I flew back to Mexico and talked with my promoter Erik Morales. We talked about the plans and the training and the details surrounding the bout. Now everything is finalized and is on the table for October 22.”

Guevara previously spent seven weeks in the Otomi Mountains to help prepare his friend Carlos Cuadras for the latter’s huge bout against fellow Mexican former champion Juan Francisco Estrada. Though plans to continue his training in Mexico City has been stuck by the terrible earthquake that took the life of hundreds in the capital, Pedro is going on with his preparations in his hometown of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, until he and his team leave for Tokyo.

Desperation is now over and Pedro is about to finish his camp with fully concentrating on the task at hand.

”I feel so happy. Two years after I lost the WBC title I finally get this new opportunity. I have to prepare so hard for this bout, we know that in Japan it is not easy to win, so we must be intelligent to take this challenge and bring my WBC belt back to Mexico.”

You can reach Tamas Pradarics at pradaricst@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TomiPradarics.