Jose Pedraza Training Hard For June Return in Las Vegas

Former two division world champion Jose Pedraza is training hard for a targeted fight in the month of June.

Top Rank is planning several boxing cards in Las Vegas, at a ballroom in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The promotional company will begin their events on June 9.  ESPN will carry the events on their various platforms.

Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs) is going up against Mikkel LesPierre (22-1-1, 10 KOs), for a Top Rank card being put together on June 18.

The Puerto Rican boxer is looking to recover after suffering a ten round decision loss to Mexico’s Jose Zepeda in September. LesPierre suffered his only career defeat in March 2019, after losing by way of unanimous decision to then WBO junior welterweight champion Maurice Hooker.

“Because we don’t have the facility of a gym, we have had to train at home. As an athlete, this is my profession and since I have to generate (income), I had to keep running,” Pedraza explained to Carlos Gonzalez when completing some sessions in front of his residence in Cidra.

Normally, the boxer uses the gym located in the sports complex in Cidra. However, it has been closed since March when Governor Wanda Vázquez’s first executive order for restrictions came into force, limiting access to public spaces to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.

“You have to invent a lot apart from the physical work. I prefer the gym, although at home there is the comfort that I do not have to go out, but in the gym I have all the equipment and it is easier for us,” Pedraza said.

Pedraza explained that a physical trainer sends him the exercise routines that he must follow.

“Since I have kept running along with what we do at home, it is enough in terms of cardiovascular condition. I have felt good and by the time they call me to fight I will be ready. I have not been able to spar since shortly after the quarantine began because the fights had not been suspended. Sparring is very important. In my case, I usually do them twice a week and they are needed,” Pedraza explained.

In addition to the morning runs, Pedraza incorporated pool sessions and a stationary bike.

“The new thing has been the bicycle because I could not go out,” he concluded.