Cuban pro Perez eyes Cork as base

FORMER world amateur heavyweight champion, Mike ‘El Rebellio’ Perez, is set to make Cork the base from which he will challenge the world professional heavyweight title in a dramatic move that is sure to send shockwaves throughout the boxing world.

The 22-year-old Cuban has decided to turn professional and has joined Cork-based ‘Nowhere to Hyde Promotions’. He will train in Cork under the expert eye of Nicholas Cruz Hernandez, the former Cuban great who guided Michael Carruth and Wayne McCullough to their respective gold and silver medals at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Perez, noted for his power punching, has a decision over the legendary Cuban heavyweight Luis Ortiz and was hotly-tipped to win the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing this year.

Those plans went up in smoke when Cuba were not allowed to send a team to the world championships in Chicago last October.

En route to Cork with his new signing, Gary Hyde said he was thrilled at the Cuban’s decision to join the professional ranks.

“Mike is already a legend in his own right,” he said. “And we are delighted that he has chosen Cork as his hometown. He already knows a lot about Cork and he wants to represent his adopted hometown with pride as a true rebel.

“We have been in negotiations for some time and I know him to be an excellent person as well as an excellent boxer. Like everyone else who knows him, I firmly believe he has the potential to go all the way and become one of the great heavy boxers of his generation and the first step in that process will be taken when he arrives in Cork this weekend.”