It looks as if Juan Miguel Elorde, grandson of the legendary Flash Elorde, is going to hand over his head to Mexican champion Emanuel Navarrete on a silver platter on Sept. 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Navarrete, the reigning World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight champion, is listed as -3000 ($3000 wins $100). Elorde, a last-minute challenger, is listed as +1100 ($100 wins $1100).
Elorde, rated second by the WBO in the 122-lb class, was called in to be Navarrete’s dance partner only a little more than two weeks ago when Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum decided that he would like to showcase Navarrete during Mexican Day of Independence.
Good thing that Elorde, 32, was neck-deep in training for a fight set to take place on Sept. 21 when Top Rank came calling.
Navarrete, also 24, has a 28-1 record with 24 KOs and is regarded as the top dog in the weight class. A few weeks ago, Navarrete easily dismantled Fernando de Vaca, prompting Arum to book Navarrete another fight.
Elorde, also sporting a 28-1 mark but with only 15 KOs, is already in Los Angeles getting ready for the biggest fight of his career.
Flash Elorde was world junior-lightweight king from 1960-1967. He would have been a three-division champion had it not been for losses to Sandy Saddler at featherweight and Carlos Ortiz (twice) at lightweight.
Juan Miguel’s parents are Johhny and Liza, also noted boxing promoters.
