After 52 years, another Elorde is fighting for a world crown.
Juan Miguel Elorde, grandson of Hall of Famer Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, has been tapped to battle Mexican champion Emanuel Navarrete for the World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight title on Sept. 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The young Elorde’s shot was finalized by Top Rank, whose chairman Bob Arum is inserting the Navarrete-Elorde showdown underneath a heavyweight fight starring Tyson Fury.
Elorde, 32, has a 28-1 win-loss record with 15 KOs. Navarrete, younger by eight years, packs a 28-1 slate with 24 KOs and is coming off a third-round demolition of fellow Mexican Francisco De Vaca last Aug. 17.
Liza Elorde, mother of Juan Miguel, told the Bulletin that his son is so pumped up to lock horns with the heavily-favored Navarrete.
“He told me that this is a dream come true for him…something that he had been waiting for,” said Liza, who is married to the Flash’s son Johnny.
The call from Top Rank actually came at the perfect time.
“He’a been training for a Sept. 21 fight so we took it because we are ready,” added Liza.
The last time the name Elorde was announced in a world title fight was in June 1967 in Tokyo when Flash Elorde lost the world junior-lightweight title to Yoshiaki Numata.
