Boxing In Mexico: Rosas vs. Mijares For IBF Super Fly Title

ByAlejandro Tostado

On Saturday at The Torreon in Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico, IBF super fly kingpin Juan Alberto Rosas meets the challenge of ex-WBC/WBA champion Cristian Mijares.

29 year old Mijares, 40-6-2 (18), will be returning to the division he sat atop of during six title defenses for the first time since suffering a KO loss to Vic Darchinyan three years ago.

The Gomez Palacio southpaw has won four straight following his two failed bids to knock off Interim WBA bantam boss Nehomar Cermeno in 2009 but only one of those victories was of high level importance, an NABF bantam title winning effort against Francisco Arce by split decision in April.

Mijares will be trying to unseat reigning IBF 115 pound king Rosas, 32-5 (26), a power punching 26 year old from Navojoa who has collected four consecutive wins including an IBF eliminator over Federico Catubay and an IBF title grab over previously unbeaten Simphiwe Nongqayi in July of last year.

Rosas has been out of the ring since that time and that could be a problem in his first world title defense against such a sharp boxer as Mijares, who has fought for world honors on 12 occasions.

Look for Rosas to try and erase the gulf in experience against Mijares by making the older man work hard and ideally be drawn into a later round slugfest. Mijares will likely have the edge in confidence with this return to his old weight class but must make Rosas pay for every missed punch and use the ring wisely to maintain distance over the 12 rounds if he is to recapture a world title belt.

Also on the bill is the world’s top bantamweight, WBC/WBO champion Fernando Montiel, 43-2-2 (33), who is scheduled for a ten round non-title scrap at super bantam against chinny banger Jovanny Soto, 29-11-1 (24).

Up and coming super feather Joksan Hernandez, 21-2 (14), takes on former IBF super flyweight title challenger Jorge Lacierva, 37-7-6 (26), over ten rounds.