Taduran in talks for possible title defense in PH but still open for Collazo unification
At A Glance
- The camp of International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight champion Pedro Taduran is already in talks for a possible PH staging of his title defense but has kept its doors open for a possible unification against Puerto Rican unified champion Oscar Collazo.
The camp of International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight champion Pedro Taduran is already in talks for a possible PH staging of his title defense but has kept its doors open for a possible unification against Puerto Rican unified champion Oscar Collazo.
In a report by the Ring Magazine, MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons said they are already in talks with the camp of IBF mandatory challenger DianXing Zhu for Taduran’s title defense.
Zhu had already fought in the country when he defeated Ian Abne in the IBF title eliminator at the Cebu City Coliseum last month.
Gibbons, however, stressed that a unification can easily supersede the mandatory challenge if Collazo, who he called as an ‘embarrassment to the division’ for ducking Taduran, wishes for the unification fight.
"We're in the middle of talking to Zhu's people, we're working to have the fight done for September or October in the Philippines. Any time (Collazo) could have stepped up to the plate, unifications supersede a mandatory,” said Gibbons.
The MP Promotions matchmaker then went on to blast Collazo for claiming as the best in the 105-pound division but not engaging Taduran for unification.
The two camps have been back-and-forth in their talks for the fight to come to fruition but to no avail. Collazo ended up fighting Jayson Vayson, Jesus Haro and recently Neider Aguilar for the WBO International Flyweight crown.
"I offered it to (Miguel Cotto Promotions Executive Director) Bryan Perez and (Golden Boy president) Eric Gomez many times. Collazo, you can't say you're pound-for-pound and won't even do a unification with Pedro,” said Gibbons.
“You ran from Pedro for years and his last three fights have been completely embarrassing. Pedro is ready to fight. I think Collazo should go to 112 because he has embarrassed the division,” he added.