IBO JR. FLYWEIGHT CHAMP LORETO DEFENDS TITLE IN SOUTH AFRICA

By Manny Piñol

Journeyman turned world boxing champion Rey Loreto of Davao City defends his International Boxing Organization (IBO) World Junior Flyweight title when he meets former Olympian and two time world champion Nkosinathi Joyi in a rematch in East London, South Africa on March 22.

Loreto, 23, a southpaw with an atrocious boxing record before he was taken in by Baguio City-based boxing manager Brico Santig, will be making his first defense of the title he won in a brutal knockout of Joyi in Monaco in February last year.

The return bout against Joyi was supposed to be held in December last year but was postponed to Feb. 28 this year. It was again moved to March 22 after Loreto underwent appendectomy.

Loreto, a native of Barangay Tamayong, Davao City, is under a promotional contract with Sonshine Sports Management, a sports management group supported by religious leader Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, who himself is from Tamayong.

Before he was taken in by Santig, Loreto was a journeyman who fought at any given weight between miniflyweight to bantamweight just to earn little money.

Mismanaged, he had an unenviable record of 17 wins and 13 losses. He, however, had a very high KO percentage stopping 10 of the 17 boxers he fought before the Joyi fight.

Last year, he was asked to fight former Olympian and two-time world champion Joyi for the vacant IBO Junior Flyweight in Monte Carlo, Monaco in the undercard of a fight which featured Gennady Golovkin.

He was not given much of a chance to win over Joyi but Loreto shocked the South Africans and the boxing community when he knocked out the former Olympian in a brutal fashion in the 3rd round.

Still fighting for recognition as a world champion, Loreto could not get Philippine promoters to stage his title defense until his sad story was brought to the attention of Pastor Quiboloy.

In October last year, Loreto fought and easily outpointed Indonesian Heri Amol in a non-title fight in his home city, Davao.

In South Africa next week, Loreto will have to defend his title convincingly knowing of that country’s reputation for one-sided boxing decisions.

Loreto, however, says he is prepared to face the odds as he had done many times in the past.