Jaca to battle Mexican in Pacquiao undercard

Another Filipino earns a shot at bigtime boxing as the Cebu-honed Jimrex "The Executioner" Jaca has been booked to fight in the undercard of the hotly-anticipated rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales billed as "The Battle" on January 21 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In his maiden ring appearance in the United States, Jaca is ranged against the equally dangerous Mexican Ivan Valle in a non-title bout scheduled for 10 rounds that will surely fuel up the already brewing Filipino-Mexican rivalry.

"It's confirmed. Jaca will fight against Mexican Ivan Valle in the undercard of Pacquiao-Morales rematch," said bigtime Cebuano promoter Rex "Wakee" Salud, Jaca's manager.

The 22-year-old Jaca, who hails from Sibulan, Negros Oriental, sports a 24-1-1 win-loss-draw record spiked with 11KOs, while Valle carries a 23-5-1 win-loss-draw ledger dotted with 19KOs.

Jaca once reigned as the OPBF super bantamweight champion, but was stripped of his belt for failing to make the required weight limit during his title defense against Japanese Yasuo Kunimi on May 30 last year in Kanazawa, Japan. Yasuo went on to wrest the OPBF crown by knocking out Jaca in the seventh round.

After tasting his first and only loss so far, Jaca climbed up the higher weight division and swiftly made a statement by piling up three straight wins capped by a masterful second round stoppage of veteran Samuel Duran to capture the RP super featherweight championship last November 25 in Maasin City.

Valle, on the other hand, became the WBC Mundo Hispano featherweight champion after knocking out Ivan Feliciano in the second round on May 19, 2000 at his hometown in Los Mochis, Mexico.

In his previous bout, however, Valle lost by split decision to fellow countryman Francisco Lorenzo in San Antonio, Texas. Before that though, he racked up three straight wins including a pait of knockouts against Antonio Cervantes and Adan Hernandez within five rounds.

The 25-year-old Valle is expected to figure in an explosive showdown against Jaca as the Mexican also boasts of a devastating puncher power. Of his 23 wins, only four lasted the distance against Valle.