Trainer Bob Santos has announced that his heavyweight Dainier Pero should return to the ring on July 26 against a yet-to-be-named opponent.
Pero (7-0, 5 KOs), 24, is the latest Cuban heavyweight aspiring to become his country’s first heavyweight titleholder. Discussing Pero’s upcoming fight, scheduled for the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, Santos said, “He should be in a real good step-up type fight.”
Santos suggested that the fight could serve as the co-feature on the DAZN card, expressing frustration over the difficulty in finding opponents for Pero early in his career.
“It’s tough to get guys in the ring with him, too,” Santos said. “We had, like, 17 opponents turn him down. They were offering career-high paydays for those guys. So usually you could say, ‘Oh, the guy doesn’t want to get in the ring with me, obviously, because maybe the money isn’t correct.’ But when you’re talking about a career-high payday and they still don’t want to get in the ring with you, I think that says it all.”
Santos also addressed the criticism Pero has faced due to the reluctance of potential opponents to fight him.
“You end up getting fights where it’s like, ‘Why is he even in with that guy?’” Santos said. “Because that’s the only guy that we could get in the ring.”
In April, Pero stopped Jose Mario Tamez in one round. Tamez now has a record of 4-4-1 with 1 KO.
“Obviously we brought the kid out of Mexico in the last fight, but kudos to him. At least he had the balls to take the fight and get in the ring,” Santos said. “So he isn’t at the level of Pero, obviously, or some of the other guys that weren’t taking the fight. I had told him that right after the fight. I mean, unfortunately, he got stopped in the first round. He’s not at that talent level, but I told him, at least I’m thankful for you to even get in the ring.”
When asked how far Pero is from a big fight, given the significant money being offered in the heavyweight division by Saudi Arabian interests, Santos said July 26 will reveal much about his fighter’s short-term future.
“It’s just a matter of getting a few rounds in the bank,” Santos said of Pero, who has gone only 14 rounds as a professional. “And using that experience when you extend to that next level.”
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