Juan Miguel Elorde is about to get the biggest opportunity of his career when he challenges World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight champion Emanuel Navarrete on September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Both fighters have 28 wins against a lone defeat but the big difference is that Navarrete has a much better knockout ratio with 24 stoppages compared to Elorde's 15.
"We got the fight on short notice because we were only informed three weeks before the match. We were informed a few days after his last fight which was on August 17," Elorde said as his team was wrapping up their training camp.
"However, I felt it was a once in a lifetime opportunity so I could not pass up on the chance. It's every fighter's dream to fight for a world title, especially in Las Vegas."
Elorde fought in Las Vegas in 2011 and suffered the only loss of his career. Fighting on the undercard of Mercito Gesta, Elorde came up short against American Jerry Guevara via unanimous decision in their four-round fight. However, Elorde bounced back nicely with 18 straight wins after that point to lead him to a title match.
The only issue about Elorde's list of victims is that none of them was world-title caliber.
"Training has been good. The only problem was that I was not able to bring my trainer Toto Laurente with me," Elorde said. "Luckily for us, we were able to talk to Marvin Somodio ... I was able to train at his gym for a week and he'll be there at the fight."
Somodio was formerly an assistant to Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. Often a fixture of Manny Pacquiao's training camps, Somodio opened his own gym Combinations Boxing Academy.
"I think my advantage is that I'm hungrier. I've long dreamt of being a world champion and this is my opportunity," Elorde said.
Elorde is a heavy underdog as some oddsmakers tab Elorde at +1000 -- a $100 dollar bet would turn into $1,000 if he scores the upset.
Navarrete won the title in December 2018 with a unanimous decision victory against Isaac Dogboe. He made sure there was no doubt that he was a deserving champion when he beat Dogboe again in their rematch via stoppage.
Currently, Navarrete is the third-ranked super bantamweight by Ring Magazine, just behind International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association champion Daniel Roman and World Boxing Council Champion Rey Vargas. The Mexican picked Elorde as his next opponent as he is the second-ranked contender of the WBO, behind fellow Filipino Marlon Tapales and just ahead of Albert Pagara.