Pinoy fighters Cuello, Taconing loom as WBC title challengers

Shots at world titles are now within reach for two talented Filipino boxers who have been slated by the World Boxing Council (WBC) for a title eliminator matches in their respective weight divisions.

 

Hard-hitting southpaw Denver Cuello (35-5-6, 23KOs) was ordered to face Panamanian Carlos Ortega (10-3-2, 4KOs) to decide the mandatory challenger of WBC world minimumweight champion Wanheng Menayothin.

 

Menayothin (36-0, 12KOs) is coming off a ninth-round TKO victory over Oswaldo Novoa this past month. The WBC rules that the champion shall be given a voluntary defense before facing the winner of Cuello-Ortega.

 

Zamboanga del Norte native Jonathan Taconing (19-2-1, 16KOs), meanwhile, could be in lin for a shot at the WBC world light flyweight title.

 

The championship is currently vacant but is on the line when Pedro Guevara fights Akira Yaegashi on December 30.

 

Taconing will face either Ganigan Lopez (25-5, 16KOs) or former world light flyweight champion Adrian Hernandez (30-3-1, 19KOs) to determine the mandatory challenger of the Guevara-Yaegashi winner.

 

The hard-hitting Taconing had his first chance at a world title in 2012 but lost in a highly-controversial technical decision over five rounds. He is on a six-fight KO/TKO win streak and is set to feature in a stay busy fight on December 21. —JST, GMA News