Pedro Taduran will make the second defense of his strawweight title in a 12-round bout against Gustavo Perez on April 3 at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California.
Manny Pacquiao Promotions (MPP) announced that Taduran-Perez will headline a card also featuring unbeaten middleweight Lazaro Francisco Lorenzana, 19-0 (13 KOs), in a chief-support bout.
“Pechanga Resort Casino has been an incredible home for Manny Pacquiao Promotions, and we’re proud to continue building our presence there,” Manny Pacquiao said. “Southern California has some of the most passionate boxing fans in the world, and we’re excited to bring another high-quality night of fights to Temecula on April 3.”
“Kid Pedro Heneral” Taduran, 19-4-1 (13 KOs), is an all-action southpaw fighter from the Philippines who has now authored two separate reigns as the IBF strawweight belt holder. Taduran most recently won a unanimous decision over Christian Balunan last October in the second defense of his latest term as titleholder. He earned the strap with a ninth-round stoppage of Ginjiro Shigeoka in July 2024, then turned around in his next start to defend it in a split decision win over Shigeoka last May.
Taduran, a 29-year-old from Libon who now fights out of Paranaque City, Metro Manila, has won five in a row since dropping back-to-back starts to Rene Mark Cuarto. The first was a tight unanimous decision in 2021 that ended his first title reign. A year later Taduran lost a thorny majority technical decision that saw Cuarto penalized for an intentional headbutt and the fight later stopped because of a cut on Taduran’s forehead, which was deemed to have been caused by an accidental headbutt.
Meanwhile, “Smiley” Perez, 16-1-0 (5 KOs), has won eight in a row – all at 108 or 112lbs – and will be coming down to 105lbs to take on Taduran. A 27-year-old who originally hails from Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, Perez most recently won a four-round technical decision over Kevin Vivas last July. His only defeat came in 2022, when he retired after the sixth round against then-prospect and current flyweight titleholder Anthony Olascuaga.
“This highly anticipated main-event bout showcases a battle between the Philippines and Mexico, which produced some of the greatest rivalries Manny Pacquiao was involved in,” said Manny Pacquiao Promotions President Sean Gibbons. “You can always count on an all-out war when Filipino and Mexican fighters compete against each other."
The Taduran-Perez main card will air in the United States on DirecTV. MPP indicated that additional fight details will be announced in the coming weeks.
