Pagara siblings ready to rumble vs Mexicans

CEBU CITY, Philippines - – Filipino boxer Albert Pagara said he thought of knocking his cocky Mexican opponent off the stage during yesterday’s official weigh-in here.

“Gusto na yata ma-knockout agad eh,” said the flamboyant 20-year-old boxer from Cagayan de Oro of his visiting foe, Hugo “Olimpico” Partida.

The two boxers, who will dispute the vacant IBF Intercontinental junior-featherweight title tonight at the Waterfront Hotel, both weighed in at exactly 122 lb.

It was all quiet until they stood face-to-face for the traditional staredown.

Partida, a 26-year-old with a 26-4-2 record, made his presence felt by sticking his face so close to Pagara’s, and the crowd immediately reacted.

Pagara held his right fist by Partida’s chin, and the Mexican didn’t like it either, and they had to be separated by their handlers to keep things in place.

Later on, Pagara, who has a sterling amateur record behind him, laughed it off. He said the real fight takes place tonight.

He sounded so confident of his chances.

“Kayang-kaya (No sweat). Agresibo siya kaya naging agresibo din ako. (He was aggressive so I became aggressive, too),” said Pagara.

“Palagay ko knockout. Manood na lang kayo (Just watch),” he said.

The older Jason Pagara, 22 years old and with a 33-2-0 record, had less trouble during the weigh-in for his clash with another Mexican, Mario “Rocky” Meraz.

The Filipino will put his WBO International light-welterweight title on the line against Meraz, who weighed in at 139 lb. Jason came in at 139.5 lb.

There was no pushing, no shoving in their own staredown.

“Behaved yung kalaban ko eh. Kaya behaved din ako,” said Jason, one of the fresh and promising boxers from the fabled ALA Boxing Club of the Aldeguers here in Cebu.

Jason said he studied his opponent well through videotapes.

“Pinag-aralan namin. Fighter din. Nakatayo sa harap (He’s a fighter who’s just in front of you),” said Jason.

The Pagara brothers are out to make a very good impression because the president of ALA Promotions, Michael Aldeguer, said it could lead to bigger things.

“We can send them to San Diego for training if they do well here,” he said.

In the other featured bouts, AJ Banal faces Defry Paulu of Indonesia while Jimrex Jaca squares off against Masayoshi Kotake of Japan.