BOXING’S Cinderella story of the year, undoubtedly, belongs to David Emanuel Peralta. The Argentinian boxer-cum-taxi driver took a short notice fight against former multi-division champion Robert Guerrero and outlasted the veteran en route to a unanimous decision victory in Anaheim, California.
Upon return to his home country, Peralta was hailed a hero. “He could not walk down the street because everybody was jumping on him,” said Peralta’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, to Boxing News. “He was so happy because he really deserved it. He had an excellent career but he got robbed in the last fight that he lost in Argentina. He also lost his trainer a couple of months before that fight, while he was in training. It was very tough.”
With the Premier Boxing Champions calendar frozen in time sans fights, Lewkowicz has a December date earmarked for his fighter, although the bout won’t be against a top name.
“For this year it’s really impossible to find a major fight for him even though he deserves it after defeating Guerrero,” said Lewkowicz. “Boxing changed a lot from 2015 to 2016 and will change even more in 2017. Boxing will never die, but all fighters need to understand that they’ll never receive the kind of money that they earned a couple of years ago. With that in mind, Peralta will return on December 10th, most likely in New Mexico, or possibly on a small VIP card in the Dominican Republic.”
In his split decision victory over Guerrero, the Argentine showed enough poise and talent to prove that he could hang with a lot of the top guys at 147 pounds. While he’s not a world-beater, Peralta’s victory was certainly no fluke. It’s safe to say that he could compete, and possibly defeat, some of the welterweight prospects and contenders headlining fight cards across the United States. As a plus, he is likable, has a great back-story, and isn’t afraid to get into a firefight with his opponent every once in a while. In short, he’s the kind of fighter that people tune in to see.
It is unfortunate that his trainer, Carlos Tello, didn’t survive long enough to witness his pupil’s long-awaited moment in the spotlight. “Prior to his death,” Lewkowicz continued. “Tello told his son, Charlie, that the only thing he had to leave him was the gift of his fighter, David Emanuel Peralta. t’s a beautiful story- from father to son. And now Peralta, having been a taxi driver, is now in the back seat and somebody is driving for him.”
