Day 3 of the OMB 35th Annual Convention

Day 3 of the 35th annual convention of the WBO began on a rainy morning in San Juan on Wednesday. While the general assembly was held at the host Royal Sonesta hotel, the referee seminar was conducted by head referee Mark Nelson at former WBO champion Ivan Calderon’s gymnasium across town.

The WBO Latino report was delivered by Jorge Molina. There have been 20 WBO Latino fights to date in 2022.

WBO super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka joined the meeting and was greeted by WBO President Valcárcel. Ioka will receive a diamond ring, commemorating his five successful title defenses. Ioka has expressed his desire to unify with a fellow champion in his next fight and has asked the WBO to allow this event to take place.

Marion Palatin provided her report on the WBO women’s category. He pointed to several top-level fights involving WBO champions in recent weeks and months: first, the fight of the year involving undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor and unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano, which was the first female fight to headline Madison Square Garden. There was also the WBO/WBC super featherweight unification between Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner, as well as the undisputed Jr. middleweight bout between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall, which headlined a sold-out O2 Arena in Greenwich, UK.

International Boxing Hall of Fame Executive Director Ed Brophy was introduced and praised the WBO’s support of the IBHOF for many years.

Top Rank executive Carl Moretti accepted the WBO plaque honoring the promotional team for excellence in 2022.

Then, Xander Zayas was recognized as the WBO Prospect of the Year with a commemorative plaque presented by President Valcárcel.

Former IBF super featherweight champion and current top-tier coach Roberto Garcia and his position, current WBC super flyweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, joined the session. Rodriguez expressed his intentions to fight for the WBO title, possibly at flyweight, as he feels he can easily reach weight and ranked No. 1 in the WBO before annexing the WBC title at 115 pounds.

After much anticipation, the reigning unified women’s featherweight champion, Amanda Serrano, finally arrived just before the end of the day’s meetings. President Valcárcel praised Serrano for his accomplishments in and out of the ring, as well as so proudly representing his Puerto Rican heritage.