True to his word, American boxing man Sean Gibbons found a dancing partner for reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight champion Pedro Taduran in line with keeping the volume-punching Filipino southpaw active and busy.
Already training in Las Vegas the last six weeks, Taduran meets Gustavo Perez on 3 April at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California.
The confirmation of Taduran’s third defense of the IBF 105-pound throne came a day after the three-belt title showdown between Puerto Rican pound-for-pound entrant Oscar Collazo and Melvin Jerusalem was announced for 14 March in Los Angeles or Anaheim, also in California.
Collazo has the World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association jewels while Jerusalem owns the World Boxing Council plum.
Apart from the alphabet titles, Collazo is also classified as The Ring magazine champion, making him a three-belt holder.
“We are very thankful for giving Pedro this fight,” said Cucuy Elorde, who co-manages Taduran alongside his brother Marty.
Taduran, 29, parading a 19-4-1 win-loss-draw record with 13 knockouts, is hoping to get a fight with the winner of the Collazo-Jerusalem clash to determine the undisputed champion, an accolade that is quite rare these days.
Nicknamed “Smiley,” Perez, 27, hailing from Ensenada, Mexico, packs a 16-1-0 mark with five knockouts.
He has fought a couple of times on United States soil and even in Nicaragua but the vast majority have taken place in Mexico, specifically in the boxing haven of Baja California, where he is based.
The placement of Taduran’s clash with Perez is strategic given that Gibbons is targeting a unification match for his client regardless of who emerges victorious in the Collazo-Jerusalem encounter.
Taduran left for America on New Year’s Day and is currently residing and training in a Las Vegas property owned by Gibbons, who also represents countless Filipino ring talents, including Eumir Marcial, Carl Jammes Martin, Marlon Tapales, Jerwin Ancajas and AJ Paciones.
He was also instrumental in making Tapales a unified champion at super-bantamweight in 2023 and giving him a lucrative match with Naoya Inoue.
