By REYNALD MAGALLON
Charly Suarez is eyeing a shot at a possible world title fight when he takes on American foe Andres Cortes in a 10-round World Boxing Organization junior lightweight title eliminator on Sept. 20 at the Desert Diamond Arena in Arizona.
Unbeaten through 17 fights with nine knockouts, the 36-year-old pride of Davao del Norte aims for a convincing victory to finally get the long-coveted chance at the junior lightweight belt currently held by Mexican Emanuel Navarrete.
But before that, former Filipino Olympian and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist who turned professional in 2019, still needs to hurdle Cortes who poses legitimate threat to Suarez’s title dreams.
Like the Filipino pug, Cortes has also kept his record unblemished through 22 fights, 12 of which came by way of knockouts.
Cortes is ranked No.2 in the WBO jr. lightweight rankings while Suarez is at the third spot.
Suarez is coming off a unanimous decision victory over American Luis Coria last April – his lone fight this year.
Cortes, on the other hand, has already fought twice this year with the first, a fourth round knockout win over fellow American Bryan Chevalier in February, before a unanimous decision victory over Puerto Rican Abraham Nova last June.
Fighting under Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions, Suarez is set to fly to Las Vegas on Sunday, Sept. 1 as his preparations for the fight shifts to a higher gear.
