Cesar Mateo Tapia is ready to face the best fighters in the middleweight division.
Tapia will face Keiber Gonzalez in a compelling fight of unbeaten middleweights Wednesday night at Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia. The 10-round bout will precede the main event bout between junior middleweight prospects Nikita Tszyu and Danilo Creati.
Both fights will take place on a No Limit Boxing Promotions card that will air live on Kayo Sports (7 p.m. AEST).
At Tuesday’s weigh-in, Tapia weighed in at 159.31 pounds. Gonzalez came in at 158.29 pounds. At stake will be a WBO regional title and what surely will be a placement among the top 15 in the WBO rankings.
Tapia (16-0, 10 knockouts) was born in Tijuana, Mexico and migrated with his parents to Australia at the age of four. Tapia currently lives in the Sydney suburb of Narrabeen and is co-trained by Rick Caronongan and Jesse Thompson in the Saint Petersburg, Florida area. The 26-year-old is promoted by No Limit Boxing, which also promotes former world junior middleweight titleholder Tim Tszyu, and is confident he belongs amongst the best at 160 pounds.
“I’m thrilled to be coming back to Australia on such a big platform, domestically,” Tapia told The Ring Sunday. “I’ve spent 15 months abroad in the States, where I am currently training. I feel as if I’ve truly grown as a fighter during this time. Coach Rick and Jesse have really taken my game to the next level.
“No Limit Promotions have shown to be a major player in the (boxing) game with the incredible work they’ve done with Tim Tszyu. I feel like this is exactly where I am supposed to be in my career and the timing is exactly right. I’m looking forward to putting on a show for the people in Sydney and arriving on the world scene as the nation’s next world champion.”
No Limit Boxing also promotes junior featherweight contender Sam Goodman and former world junior lightweight title challenger Liam Wilson.
In his last bout on October 18, Tapia stopped Eric Robles after the fifth round. The win over Robles came a year after defeating Abdoulaye Mayweather, who entered the bout unbeaten, by unanimous decision.
Tapia is managed by Ryan Rickey.
Gonzalez (20-0, 17 KOs), who is originally from El Callao, Venezuela and now resides in Willemstad, Curacao, defeated Ramon Lopez Mejia by unanimous decision in his last bout on October 28.
His last two fights have taken place in Curacao, but the 29-year-old has also fought in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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