Flores puts undefeated mark on the line
Friday night fight could elevate Houston boxer from prospect to contender
In a high-stakes showdown, undefeated Houston featherweight Miguel Flores (20-0, 9 KOs) faces the sternest test of his career when he takes on Ryan Kielczweski (25-1, 7 KOs) at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., on Friday. The bout, scheduled for 10 rounds, will be the main event on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.
The winner will likely elevate his status from prospect to contender while the loser tumbles a few rungs down the rankings. It will be Flores’ ESPN debut.
“There’s always pressure to impress, no matter what the TV network,” said Flores, a graduate of Sam Houston High School. “We’re knocking on the door for a world title shot. When we do - God willing beat this guy, we’re going to be right there shooting for a world title.”
It is a dead-even matchup, on paper at least. Both fighters are tall and lanky for featherweights, standing at five-foot-eight. While Kielczweski, 27, has more fights on his dossier, Flores, 24, has faced a slightly better caliber of opponents.
“He’s a pretty fast guy who kind of reminds me of Paul Malignaggi,” Flores said. “We’ll have to pressure him and break him down to the body.”
Aaron Navarro, who has trained Flores since he was a preteen, said Kielczweski might be fast and elusive but be fast and elusive but he tends to stand his ground and trade as the fight progresses. In preparation, Navarro has structured Flores’ sparring session to begin against quick, stick-and-move sparring partners for four rounds and replace them with brawlers in the later rounds.
“The kid’s 25-1 for a reason,” Navarro said. “He’s somewhat of a cutie. He’s kind of slick, or least he starts out that way, but he looks like he’ll fight a little bit once he gets to that point.”
“Mikey boxes much better, has better feet and better defense than a lot of people give him credit for,” Navarro said. “There is more to what he can do than just walk in and throw that left hook to the body.”
While the left hook to the body has been Flores’ most potent weapon since he was an amateur, he has since developed further dimensions to his game. He credits his trio of co-trainers for molding him into a more cerebral fighter.
“Bobby (Benton), Aaron and Edwin Jackson have helped my boxing IQ a lot,” Flores said. “I’m not just the typical brawler. I actually go in there and think about a game plan and have more ring generalship.”
In 2009, Flores lost his older brother and role model Benjamin who succumbed to injuries suffered in the ring. Despite the tragedy, Flores, at age 17, decided to turn pro a few months after Benjamin’s death and dedicate his career to the sibling he idolized.
Benjamin’s son Christopher, who was a few months old when his father passed, is often present at the Main Boxing Gym where Flores trains. Christopher is now 8, the same age Flores was when he first began tagging along to Benjamin’s workouts.
“My brother’s my motivation and seeing his kid is extra motivation,” Flores said. “I try to keep him in the gym with me and let him know that this is where his father was most of the time.”
Should he defeat Kielczweski, Flores is cognizant that the road to a world title will only get incrementally steeper. The 126-pound weight class is one of the most competitive if underrecognized divisions in the sport today.
“I see a stacked and loaded division full of talent,” Flores said. “Leo Santa Cruz, Gary Russell and Carl Frampton are at the top of the food chain. But at the right time, with the right preparation, I think I can take on any of those guys.
“I think I need two or three more fights at this level before I step in there with one of those guys, maybe in a year or so I will be ready to step in with one of those guys.” Peter Lim is at peterliminator@gmail.com.