Tepora moves up lightweight division

CEBU, Philippines —  Bugged by weight problems for over a year now,  former world boxing champion Jhack “El Kapitan” Tepora (23-1, 17KOs) has finally decided to switch weight class - from super featherweight to lightweight.

Tepora said he hasn’t brought up the matter yet with Team Pacquiao, which now charts his career path, but that is the kind of direction he wants to take as boxing events slowly get back after being knocked down by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Yes, I’m moving up to lightweight,” said Tepora, who exercises regularly to keep himself in good shape and condition under community quarantine.

The 25-year-old Tepora shot to fame in the worldwide stage when he scored a smashing ninth round stoppage of Mexico’s Edivaldo Ortega to snatch the WBA interim super featherweight title on July 14, 2018 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

However, Tepora was stripped of his belt for failing to make weight right in his first defense against Hugo Ruiz supposedly on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner welterweight showdown on January 19, 2019 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The bout was eventually cancelled upon the recommendation of Ruiz’s manager Sampson Lewcowicz who doesn’t want to put Tepora in harm’s way.

Tepora tried to refresh his career only to suffer his first career defeat by a disappointing first-round knockout at the hands of Oscar Escandon on December 21 last year at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Canada.

“That’s boxing. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” said Tepora on his forgettable setback to Escandon.

Confident as ever, Tepora said he now puts everything in the past and that he will come back better and stronger.