Paulus “The Hitman” Moses will finally defend his World Boxing Association lightweight title against former champion Jose Alfaro of Nicaragua on March 19. Moses’ title defence has twice been postponed after negotiations with other opponents broke down, but this time the fight has been sealed, according to Moses.
“My trainer Nestor Tobias told me that Don King had approved Jose Alfaro as my next opponent and we were just waiting for an answer. Last week Nestor told me that Alfaro had accepted the offer so now the fight will go ahead on 19 March,” he said.
The 26-year-old Nicaraguan has a professional record of 23 wins of which 20 came via knockout, and five defeats. He won the WBA lightweight title in December 2007 when he beat Prawet Singwancha of Thailand on a split decision over 12 rounds.
Moses, who was the number one challenger at the time, was supposed to fight Alfaro, but he agreed to step aside to allow Yusuke Kobori of Japan a crack at the title. Kobori subsequently beat Alfaro with a third round KO in Tokyo in May 2008, where Moses was in attendance at ringside.
Moses finally got a crack at the world title on January 3, 2009 and he grabbed his chance with both hands to beat Kobori on a unanimous points decision over 12 rounds.
Moses successfully defended his title on July 25, 2009 when he beat Takehiro Shimada on points over 12 rounds, but since then negotiations with Marco Antonio Barrera and Miguel Acosta have broken down.
Moses said he respected Alfaro as a boxer but was confident of beating him.
“He is a good boxer but I am well prepared. As the champion I must be prepared to take on anyone and there is no way that he can beat me. I am training every day, in the mornings and the afternoons so I will be ready,” he said.
Moses said he was not sure where the fight would take place while he still needed to sign a contract for the fight.
“I will continue training, but I’ll only be happy when I see the contract,” he said.