Two-sport combat fighter Pedro Juarez will pack away his open-finger gloves and lace up his boots as he returns to the boxing ring after two straight MMA victories to take on Harley Sampson in a four-round lightweight attraction as part of the “Rising Stars” event promoted by Toscano Boxing Promotions at the Chicken Ranch Casino Resort in Jamestown, California this Thursday night.
Juarez (1-0) of Tracy, California is a veteran of six professional MMA bouts, but crossed over to the sweet science last October to claim victory in his pro boxing debut in an entertaining four-round decision over Alec Acuavera in nearby Modesto.
“It felt good,” says Juarez, reflecting on his first pro boxing victory. “I had a good camp for that fight. It worked out in my favor and the hard work paid off. It felt good to get my pro debut out of the way. Now I know what to expect and I am more familiar with the ring and all that good stuff. I’m ready to rock for this fight coming up.”
The fight with Acuavera was an all-action, toe-to-toe slugfest between two fighters with MMA backgrounds. Juarez did not give up any ground during the bout and Acuavera was a willing opponent in a fight that pleased the crowd for all four rounds.
“That is my style,” declares Juarez. “I like to come forward, I like to fight. That is how I normally fight and Acuavera was a tough opponent too. He came to fight as well. It made for a great fight for the fans and I am happy with the outcome.”
Juarez’s trainer Alfredo Perez was happy with the result and pleased with his fighter’s debut performance, but has worked to refine one aspect of Juarez’s game in the time since.
“For the most part, everything went to plan,” says Perez. “Being that it was his first fight, and both fighters, as you could see, were throwing. Working with our team, he is learning to breathe better and pick when to punch, instead of just throw, throw, throw…throw with a meaning.”
Heading into his debut with eight ounce gloves, Juarez had already signed to compete in mixed martial arts just under three weeks later. Despite going four hard rounds against Acuavera, Juarez was able to shift gears and immediately get ready for his MMA bout against Chris Fernandez as part of Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat 25 in Wheatland, California. On that night in November, Juarez ended things early with a second-round kayo.
“It was crazy,” exclaims Juarez. “That is just how it worked out. I had that MMA fight pretty locked in and then I got the boxing opportunity presented to me, so I took it. I rolled it over into my MMA fight. After my boxing fight, I went right into training for the MMA fight and things worked out for me on that night too. I have some good momentum right now and I plan to keep it going on July 17th.”
One might think that it would be difficult to shift gears from the intricacies of the sweet science to mixing in kicks and ground attacks and all that comes with competing in mixed martial arts. For Juarez, a fight is a fight and he adapts no matter how short the time between bouts.
“For me, I am always training anyways, so I am used to being in the environment of being in a fight,” explains Juarez. “Once you step into the ring or the cage, it is a fight. So that is how I look at it. For the MMA fight, I just got back to training and sharpening up my ground game and my cage work and I was ready to rock.”
After picking up another MMA stoppage in May, Juarez shifted his focus to the July 17th date at the Chicken Ranch Casino Resort where he will be fighting Harley Sampson (1-0, 1 KO) of Reno, Nevada in a four-rounder.
“I don’t really know too much about him,” admits Juarez. “I know he fought an MMA guy that was like 0-6, but I couldn’t really find any tape on him, so it’s kind of the unknown, but I am getting ready for whatever. As long as I am in shape and ready to fight, it doesn’t really matter.”
With his trainer Perez recovering from a medical setback, Juarez has been getting ring work with his first boxing coach, Felipe Martinez. Training at Martinez’s gym, with Perez able to monitor from ringside, Juarez has the added benefit of the great sparring provided by the plethora of fighters that frequent Felipe’s Boxing Academy in Stockton.
“Before this camp, I actually had an amputation done on my toe, because of sickness,” reveals Perez. “So I told Pedro to go see our coach Felipe and coach is going to work you. Coach Felipe has done a great job, helping Pedro get better and better. Almost everyday, Pedro is going over there and if not getting the great sparring, he’s getting work with Coach Felipe and I am able to watch it from the outside from a different vantage point. That is something new for us that we did not have at the first camp. But now, we are sparring a lot of better, high-end fighters and doing very well. We are very thankful for all of our sparring partners.”
With his reconfigured team aiding in his training and the experience of his debut out of the way, Juarez is ready to put his hard work to use this coming Thursday in Jamestown.
“Obviously, we watched the first fight, studied it and looked for things I could improve on,” says Juarez. “That is what we are working on for this camp, just being more sharp and defensively-minded. So I am just minding my P’s and Q’s, working on the basics and things like that. I have definitely been improving since my first fight, that is for sure.”
Fight fans that make the trip to the Chicken Ranch Casino Resort this week can expect to see a refined Pedro Juarez, the boxer. Both he and his coach are confident heading into Thursday.
“At the end of the day, we respect our opponents, whoever they are, but I think Pedro is going to do a whole lot better than in that first fight,” says Perez. “Conditioning-wise, right now he’s in great shape. He’s getting good rounds, sometimes against two or three people. I see how he’s managing his breathing better and of course right now it is very hot, but he’s still doing so well. Honestly, I think we are going to see a different Pedro this time and surely a stronger Pedro. He looks real strong and we are happy where we are right now.”
“Expect a good show as always,” says Juarez. “I plan to come in and go for the finish. It is a four-round fight, but I am ready to take this guy out. That is the plan.”
Tickets for the event, promoted by Toscano Boxing Promotions, are available online at Ticketon.com
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com
