Fresh from a second round demolition of Mexican Cesar Chavez in Davao two Saturdays ago, WBO No. 4 superlightweight Jason Pagara is in no hurry to crash the big-time merry-go-round in the highly competitive 140-pound division where the likes of Brandon Rios, Ruslan Provodnikov, Jessie Vargas, Chris Algieri, Adrien Broner, Mikey Garcia, Lamont Peterson, Danny Garcia and Mike Alvarado campaign.
“Jason’s not ready for the big names in the lightwelterweight division, at least not yet,” said Tony Aldeguer whose Cebu-based ALA boxing stable’s star-studded roster includes Pagara. “I have no illusions. The lightwelterweight division is tough. Some of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters are in this division. Right now, Jason is where we want him to be. He’s never fought abroad and I think it’s time to test his mettle.”
Aldeguer plans to bring Pagara to the US for serious sparring next month. “We want to give Jason a chance to show what he can do at a high level,” he said. “We’re not overhyping Jason. In the Philippines, it’s hard to find top caliber sparmates for Jason at his weight. We hope he’ll be ready to fight some of the big names in a year or two.”
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Pagara was sensational in disposing of Chavez. He floored the visitor twice in the first round then finished him off with a left hook to the jaw in the second. A furious body attack started the downfall. Referee Bruce McTavish waved it off as Chavez crumpled to the canvas on all fours, clutching his head as if to check if it was still on his shoulders.
British writer Eric Armit commented on Pagara’s rise: “He has been matched sensibly with wins over Michael Antoine (17-0-1), Aaron Herrera (25-1) and Vlad Baez (19-1-2); in fact, the combined records of his five victims before the Chavez fight add up to 95-9-5 so no easy ones there. Chavez, 27, had been in the process of getting his career back on track. After a run of four losses in a row by KO/TKO, he had gone back to basics in 2014 with three wins over modest opposition but he was never in with a chance (against Pagara).”
What Aldeguer likes about Pagara is his power, a critical factor in a fighter’s rise to global fame. “No doubt, he has tremendous potential,” said Aldeguer. “He’s young (26) and the guy can punch. He’s also got charisma. We still can’t gauge how far Jason will go. We’ll get a better idea when he fights abroad. We’ll feel our way through. He’ll probably fight next in the US or Dubai. We’ve got a promotion on May 23 in San Diego, that’s 100 percent sure, but my son Michael and ABS-CBN are still finalizing the card. Dubai wants us back so we’ll do another show there. In boxing, it’s all about fighting the right guy at the right time and right place.”
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Aldeguer said the overseas exposure will put Pagara to the test. “It’s the same thing we did with Donnie Nietes, Milan Melindo and Genesis Servania,” he noted. “We brought Milan and Genesis to spar in different gyms in the US and even in Tijuana. They sparred with big boys and gained a lot of confidence. It’s different when you’re training in Freddie Roach’s gym or Justin Fortune’s gym.”
In Pagara’s case, Aldeguer said bringing over world-ranked contenders to fight the 5-8 Cagayan de Oro prospect in Manila is no joke. “Of course, we want to bring in opponents who will be competitive but it takes an astronomical sum of money to get the big names in the lightwelterweight division to come over,” he added. “We were lucky to bring in fighters like Antoine, Herrera and Baez for Jason but we can’t do that all the time. That’s why we want to bring Jason abroad, to gauge his toughness, to find out how far he can go against the big names.”
Pagara, nicknamed El Niño, isn’t rated in the top 40 by the WBC but is ranked a lofty No. 4 by the WBO behind Algieri, Lucas Matthysse and Provodnikov. The WBO throne is vacant and there is talk that Algieri will take on WBO lightweight king Terence Crawford to determine the new champion, possibly on April 18 in Omaha. There is also talk that Matthysse and Provodnikov will dispute the vacant title. As for Pagara, he’s content to wait in the wings. Aldeguer admits Pagara isn’t ripe for the big time but sooner or later, he’ll be ready for the challenge.