Pagara Brothers Brace for Pinoy Pride XXVI on June 21

The Pagara brothers Jason “El Niño” and “Prince” Albert, considered as the hottest boxing siblings in the country, will star in ‘Fist of the Future’ of the 26th edition of Pinoy Pride slated on June 21 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Jason, the elder brother, and Albert will both take actions for the first time against hard-hitting Mexicans fighters.

Jason (33W-2L, 20KO’s) will defend his WBO International light welterweight title against a Mexican knockout artist Mario ‘Rocky’ Meraz (20W-3L,16KO’s), while his unbeaten younger brother, Albert (20-0,14KO’s), will seek for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) International junior featherweight title against Veteran boxer Hugo ‘Olympico’ Partida (21-W4L-2D,16KO’s) of Mexico.

“This coming June 21st is the defining fight for Jason,” ALA Promotion President and CEO Michael Aldeguer said during the press conference on Tuesday.

According to Aldeguer, ALA Promotions has already granted license to promote fight cards in San Diego, California, and he wants to showcase Jason. This fight will serve as his biggest test before stepping up for another bigger milestone, he said.

Jason and Albert Pagara (right) flank ALA Promotions CEO Michael Aldeguer (Photo by Mary Jane Catriz)

“When we were planning to set up a gym in San Diego, California, we had Jason in mind. He will need exposure especially in terms of sparring abroad. For his improvement and growth as a boxer, he will need to spar against tough Mexicans. We will see in this fight how he will perform,” Aldeguer disclosed.

The 25-year-old Jason expressed confidence to this fight against his foe despite he is in a very tough division (140lbs.), known as a venue for dangerous punchers, for the sake of the given opportunity by his promoter.

“I know Meraz is a tough fighter, and I already studied his fight videos. I can take him and there will be a knockout”, Jason said.

Meanwhile, Jason advised his brother, Albert, to focus on fight and to avoid self-assertive over his bout. Albert said, he was trained to build more power, speed and better conditioning which leads him to be confident to take his foe down.

In the undercards, AJ ‘Bazooka’ Banal (30-2(2)-1, 21KO) will also slug it out against the undefeated Defry ‘The Hammer’ Palulu (10-0, 9KO) of Indonesia for a 10-rounder non-title bout; and Jimrex ‘Executioner’ Jaca (39-7(5)-3, 22KO) will face Masayoshi Kotake (9-8-1, 5KO) of Japan for a 8-rounder contest.

Photo above: (From Left to right) Trainer Edmund Villamor, AJ Banal, Jason Pagara, ALA Promotions Pres Michael Aldeguer, Albert Pagara and Trainer Edito Villamor (Photo by Mary Jane Catriz)