Jake Amparo battles former world champion Pedro Taduran in an all-Filipino International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight title eliminator on December 28, 2023 in Bohol.
The 23-year-old Amparo rushed into the world rankings after scoring an upset unanimous decision win over the rising Japanese boxer Goki Kobayashi on August 5 in Kobe, Japan.
Amparo gained high ratings in all four major world boxing sanctioning bodies. He is currently rated No. 3 by the IBF, No. 4 by the World Boxing Organization (WBO), No. 4 by the World Boxing Council (WBC) and No. 11 by the World Boxing Association (WBA).
Meanwhile, Taduran is on a resurgence. He became a world champion in September 2019 by stopping Samuel Salva in the fourth round during their all-Filipino IBF minimumweight title fight in Taguig City.
He successfully defended his belt in his first title defense in a fight that resulted in a technical draw with Daniel Valladares in Mexico in February 2020.
The 27-year-old Taduran lost his title in his second defense after he was beaten by Rene Mark Cuarto via unanimous decision in General Santos City in another all-Filipino world title bout in February 2021.
He fought Cuarto in a rematch the following year in February 2022 and lost by technical decision after the fight was prematurely stopped in the seventh round due to an accidental head clash.
Taduran made a strong comeback last January to stop veteran foe Powell Balaba via a third round technical knockout.
Taduran is still ranked highly in the world even if he lost two fights in the last two years. He is ranked No. 4 by the IBF and No. 5 by the WBC.
Amparo's career record is 14-4-1 with three knockouts, while Taduran has a slate of 15-4-1 with 12 knockouts.
The IBF world minimumweight champion is Ginjiro Shigeoka of Japan who is undefeated with a record of 10-0, 8 KOs and one no contest.
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