Pagara brothers to headline PP26

PASAY CITY, Philippines— ALA Boxing Gym mainstay Jason ‘El Niño’ Pagara takes another step towards his goal of fighting for a world title as he headlines the 26th edition of the successful Pinoy Pride series on June 21 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Pagara, who sports a 32-2 win-loss record spiked with 19KOs, will defend his WBO International light welterweight belt against a Mexican opponent that will be named soon.

“Jason is working hard in a training camp right now for a fight next month. We can’t confirm yet the name of his Mexican opponent, but I can say that this will be a big and significant outing for him,” said ALA Promotions President and CEO Michael Aldeguer.

The 25-year-old Pagara scored a seventh round TKO of Indonesian Rusmin Rie Raha in his previous bout last April 11 in his hometown Maasin City, Southern Leyte.

“We all know that light welterweight (140 lbs.) is a very tough division right now, but Pagara has been promising and we want to expose him more to bigger fights for him to gain experience,” said Aldeguer. “After this fight and if he makes an impressive win, we will send him to United States to train.”

For the first time in the history of the Pinoy Pride series, two brothers will headline the card as Jason’s younger brother ‘Prince’ Albert Pagara (19-0, 13KOs) will see action in the supporting main event. Albert is fresh from a sensational third round demolition of Indonesian Skak Max also last April 11 in Maasin.

Former world title challenger AJ ‘Bazooka’ Banal (30-2, 21KOs) will also be featured in the undercard. (FREEMAN)