(Denver, Colorado, April 23th, 2006, Gladiator Sports Management & Marketing) Undefeated featherweight prospect Manuel “Manos Del Muerte” Perez has signed on the dotted line to face fellow undefeated prospect Rashiem Jefferson on May 5th at the New Alhambra in Philadelphia. They will face off for Jefferson’s WNBC featherweight title (The WBC‘s national title). The bout will be promoted by Power Productions..
Perez (6-0, 2kos) is coming in on the heels of 8months of inactivity, with his last win coming in September of last year. Perez stepped up 3 weight classes to fight Felix Rios on a few days notice. Perez showed the heart of a champion in getting up from the canvass in the fifth round to finish strong and earn a split decision victory over the power punching Rios.
“I felt I did O.K. in the Rios fight but I could have done a lot of things better. I would rate my performance about a C. I think I could have controlled the tempo a little better and I also fell back into some old habits we have been working to change in the gym. Lots of things happened in the ring that night, that I hadn’t experienced before, but that’s what will make me grow as a fighter.”
Jefferson (9-0-1, 5kos) on the other hand has been very busy fighting five times in ‘05 and already once this year. In his last bout he stepped up to the 10 rounders and won a lopsided unanimous decision over Elvis Martinez to capture the WNBC title.
Both fighters have extensive amateur backgrounds with Perez winning countless state and regional titles. The highlights of his amateur career include making it to the quarter final round of the 2002 National Golden Gloves and winning the Ringside National Tournament in 2001.
“I had a real good run as an amateur and learned a lot. I do feel that I am built for the pros, always knowing that I was a pace fighter and sometimes that would affect me in the amateurs but it will only benefit me as a pro. The experience of having a little over 100 amateur bouts with only 14 losses will help me as a pro because I have seen a lot of styles in all shapes and sizes and I will have many more rounds as a pro to figure out and break down the guy in front of me.”
Jefferson’s amateur career was stellar as well fighting elite competition in many national tournaments and winning the gold at the 2002 National Golden Gloves at 118lbs.
Regardless of the amount of pro experience each fighter has this is championship boxing between prospects at it’s best. This is definitely the type of fight you would expect to find on Showtime’s “ShoBox: The Next Generation”. Two young, hungry boxers willing to put it all on the line to prove themselves to the world.
“I think Jefferson is a very good fighter and that’s exactly why I always wanted to fight him in the amateurs, because he was the best in his division, at least in his weight class.”
“He is a very fast handed fighter that likes to throw combinations. My prediction and plan in this fight is to weather the storm in the first couple of rounds and take him into the deep water of the later rounds where I know I can finish him off. So yes, I am looking for a later round knock out and if not, then a convincing decision.”
Trevor Wittman, Manuel’s trainer, had this to say about the match up:
Manuel is Colorado’s future champion who was built for the pros. He is unlike most young fighters that I have trained because he takes his training serious. Most young fighters want to enjoy outside influences and with Manuel, his first priority is his family and then comes boxing. He works 6o hours a week a the 9-5 job and then comes in to the gym for a 2-3 hour work out. The amazing thing is after a 10 hour day on the job he still comes to the gym with a champion’s work ethic. We run the mountains every weekend and he runs at 5 am each weekday morning before going to work. I think this fight is going to be a great match-up with Jefferson having the faster hands but Manuel being the bigger, stronger man in the ring that night. We are not going to try to match Jefferson’s speed but use his speed against him, by countering him as he steps back after his fast combinations, and continue to break his body down from the opening bell. I predict a ninth round knock out in this one.”
Two undefeated prospects will enter the ring on May 5th, only one will keep his perfect record intact.