Juan Carlos Burgos receives belts after upset win

It has happened many times before. A fighter brought in to face a young, undefeated fighter that is on a collision course for a big money fight. Or even a world title opportunity down the line. Most often, the unbeaten fighter is not only favored to win such a fight, but he is expected to do so in an impressive manner over the underdog fighter. Such was the case just 10 days ago, when then-unbeaten Luis Cruz fought against Juan Carlos Burgos on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez bout in Las Vegas. In the eyes of many members of the media, Cruz was supposed to defeat the hard-hitting Mexican.

Burgos deserved better. The 26 year old had only lost once in his professional career and was ranked in the top five by a major sanctioning body. Still, Burgos understood the situation at hand: He was fighting the house fighter (Cruz is promoted by Top Rank) and was an underdog to members of the media and fight fans alike.

However, Burgos flipped the script and fought a mostly-solid fight against Cruz. Burgos started very well and finished strong, earning a hard-fought 10 round majority decision.

“It didn’t bother me that I was the underdog,” said Burgos at a luncheon on Monday to celebrate his victory over Cruz. “I just demonstrated what I was capable of and that I was just as good if not a better fighter than him.”

Also at the luncheon, Burgos was officially presented with two belts that he had won that night: the WBC silver super featherweight title and the WBO Latino super featherweight title.

Burgos (28-1, 19 KO’s) is co-promoted by Thompson Boxing Promotions and Banner Promotions.
Burgos had won two bouts in a row since the only loss on his record, which was a 12 round unanimous decision to Hozumi Hasegawa last November. Even in defeat, Burgos, who made his professional debut 16 days shy of his 17th birthday, gained a great deal of experience in the fight.

“I learned a great deal in my first loss,” said the soft-spoken Burgos, who resides in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. “I learned that I could not be too confident going into a fight, especially a world title bout. I reflected and moved on to this opportunity. My preparation was very well for this fight and I demonstrated it against Cruz.”

Burgos knew what he was up against with Cruz. The Puerto-Rican fighter had mowed through decent, but not stellar competition within the last year or so. In his last fight in September, Cruz brutally knocked out former world title challenger Antonio Davis.

Studying film from Cruz’s victory over Martin Honorio, Burgos and his team, which includes former bantamweight Gerardo Espinoza, put together a game plan that would take the fight to Cruz.

“We saw that Cruz was not as fast or hit as hard. He (Cruz) hit Honorio solid, but the punches did not affect him. As you saw, the left hand kept landing for me. I had to box him and not fall into his fight. We had to win as many rounds as possible because he was the promoter’s fighter.”
“This was the fight of my life and I was pleased with my performance.”

Although Burgos won two regional belts at 130 pounds, he wants to still campaign at 126 pounds. Burgos has campaigned at mostly featherweight and went up in weight to fight Cruz on November 12th.

Burgos is eager to get back in the gym and face another top fighter in the featherweight division. No more 10 round fights. No more tune-ups. Burgos is eager to face the best of what the division has to offer.

“My main objective is to face the best fighters at 126 pounds. I want to be a world champion in the featherweight division. I want to fight the best fighters out there. I think that I demonstrated against Cruz that I’m capable of fighting and beating those fighters.”

When asked about whom he would like to face, Burgos responded, “Whomever. Jhonny Gonzalez. Orlando Salido. Juan Manuel Lopez. (Miguel Angel) Mikey Garcia. I want to fight the best out there.”

Burgos has slowly emerged as a legitimate contender. He is also an emerging contender from the fight town of Tijuana, which has seen its great deal of champions and contenders.
Located along the border opposite the city of San Diego, Tijuana just might see another one of its fighters win a world title belt as soon as next year. Although Burgos is eager for that to happen, he is not getting ahead of himself and actually respects those Tijuana fighters that came before him.

“It is a great motivation for me to be another fighter to win a world title from Tijuana. Obviously my uncle (Victor Burgos), (Antonio) DeMarco, (Antonio) Margarito, Erik (Morales) have kept Tijuana on the boxing map. Seeing those fighters and their success motivates me to become a world champion. I definitely give extra work in the gym because of that.”

Everything may have been in line for Cruz to win. Except Burgos did not receive the memo that Cruz was supposed to win. Instead, Burgos did fight the bout of his career, winning a deserving decision.

Next time a bout takes place between an unbeaten fighter on the rise and “the underdog,” do not always assume that the unbeaten fighter will win.

Juan Carlos Burgos proved that theory does not always hold true. Based in his eagerness to face the best and well-known fighters in the division, he is eager to prove people wrong again.

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/juan-carlos-burgos-receives-belts-after-upset-win-102512