It is imperative that Pedro Taduran retains his International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight crown next month given the promise of massive financial gain.

A victory by Taduran over Ginjiro Shigeoka on 24 May in Osaka will position the Filipino southpaw to a lucrative unification fight against the winner of a proposed showdown between Oscar Collazo of Puerto Rico and Filipino Melvin Jerusalem.

Collazo holds the World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) straps while Jerusalem has the World Boxing Council (WBC) title.

There is a plan for Jerusalem and Collazo to face off for the three belts and the survivor of this encounter should find himself being pitted against the victor of the Taduran-Shigeoka duel.

Efforts have commenced to produce an undisputed 105-pound titleholder after Collazo won Thailand’s Thannamon Niyomtrong’s WBA plum last year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Sean Gibbons, the American dealmaker who has stakes in Taduran and Jerusalem, told DAILY TRIBUNE that Saudi Arabia, which has been revolutionizing boxing promotions, is the game changer.

“If Saudi puts up the money, it’ll happen,” Gibbons said, a scenario that is likely given Saudi’s legendary generosity and its earlier expression of the desire to unify all four championships.

However, even if a unification gets stalled, Taduran could still find himself defending on home turf.

“He could put the title on the line here in October,” said Gibbons, referring to a big event on 4 October to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Thrilla in Manila.

But that’s getting ahead of the story.

First and foremost, there is a tough outing against Shigeoka and Taduran has to be at his best to return home with the IBF crown still in his possession.