Carlos Cañizales knows that only one victory separates him from a new world title shot, and he is determined to get it with the best boxing of his career. This June 9, the Venezuelan will step into the ring to face Cuban Daniel Matellon, number one in the WBA ranking, in the WBA International KO Drugs Boxing Festival, to be held at the Buenos Aires Casino in Argentina.
“I am 100% ready to take the victory,” says Cañizales in his camp in Caracas.
“I thank God for this opportunity He is giving me. This is the best preparation I’ve had in my entire career. I’ve been training for more than five months, waiting for this chance. Matellon’s team had not agreed with my team, but everything has been given and here I am, preparing myself, to put up a good fight and win my fight there in Argentina”, he says.
The winner of this fight between Daniel Matellón and Carlos Cañizales will be the first contender for the title, currently held by the unified champion of the category, the Japanese Kenshiro Teraji.
After losing his world title in 2021, Cañizales has returned with three strong performances, all on Mexican soil. In that country he lost the gold and black belt he had won in 2018 in China, and in that same territory he undertook his reconstruction, dropping two superb knockouts along the way. After 27 fights, 19 Ko on his record, the current WBA Continental America WBA champion recognizes himself today more mature, focused on his goals, confident of the work he has been doing in recent months.
“The defeat (in Mexico) taught me a lot. Now I’m facing this new opportunity, a very important challenge for me, and I’m focused on earning that chance to go for the title again. I am very happy to fight for this eliminator”, said Cañizales, second in the WBA ranking.
It will be a great challenge for the Venezuelan, who knows if it will be greater than the one he faced when he fought Japanese Reiya Konishi for the vacant title of the division. This time he will face the number one in the world ranking, Cuban Daniel Matellon, a force in the division who has not lost in 15 fights, only two draws, but with 11 straight wins and 7 KOs, and a brief stay as interim champion. “‘The Executioner’,” he is nicknamed.
“He’s number one in the world for a reason,” Cañizales acknowledges. “He’s a great fighter, who I respect, he has good boxing. I think he’s an uncomfortable fighter. He likes to box a lot. I’m used to fighting fast, strong opponents and I think I’m not going to have any problem to win. I’m not saying I’m going to knock him out, but I’m 100% sure I’m going to win. I’m going to fight the number one in the world, who has his experience and you have to respect him, but here is a Carlos Cañizales ready to take the victory. That’s my goal.
The fight between Carlos Cañizales and Daniel Matellón will be one of the highlights of the double date offered by the World Boxing Association’s KO Drugs International Boxing Festival, to be held on the 9th and 10th of June at the Buenos Aires Casino, in Argentina.
“I think it’s going to be a great fight, (Matellón and I) are going to put on a great show for the Argentine public,” promised Cañizales.
Within the framework of this program, the Venezuelan Mayerlin Rivas will defend her super bantamweight world title against the Argentine Nazarena Romero, in the main fight of the closing evening of the KO Drugs.
Both fights will be broadcast by TyC Sports, through its channels TyC Sports and TyC Sports Play, in its “Boxeo de Primera” series, while the worldwide subscription platform DAZN will rebroadcast the Rivas-Romero fight.
