By Carlos Costa

Filipino super bantamweight Jelbirt Gomera (14-5, 7 KO’s) of the Highland Boxing Team successfully weighed-in at exactly 125 pounds in his fourteen-day pre-fight weigh-in ahead of the southpaw’s collision against Top Rank/MTK fighter former WBA Super Champion Ryan Burnett (19-1, 9 KO’s).

Gomera’s weight checked procedure unfolded at the head office of the Philippines government boxing authority, the Games and Amusement Board (GAB), in Makati, Metro Manila, supervised by GAB physician Dr. Jose Rolando Rivera.

Since it was a fourteen-day pre-weigh-in, Gomera was required to weigh no more than five percent higher than the contracted weight of 122 pounds, and the Filipino warrior passed the test with flying colors.   

Then, Ryan Burnett and Jelbirt Gomera are in a collision course.  

The two 26-year-old men will headline in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the vacant WBC International Super Bantamweight title on Friday, May 17, at Belfast’s historic Ulster Hall live on ESPN+.

“I think that Gomera’s weight is excellent fourteen days before fight night,”  said Gomera’s manager award-winning Filipino promoter Brico Santig, founder of the popular Highland Boxing Team in the beautiful mountainous Province of Benguet in northern Philippines.

“I also feel that this fight is the perfect window for Jelbirt Gomera to display his good boxing skills, speed and heart against a great boxer like Ryan Burnett.”

As for Burnett, the rumble is his first one since battling Filipino Nonito Donaire six months ago.

During that dramatic clash, Ryan Burnett sustained a shocking back injury during the action of round four, which forced the young Irishman to take a knee and surrender in agonizing pain, leaving the ring in Glasgow on a stretcher.

Leading in the scorecards, Burnett was applying pressure on Donaire when the unfortunate mishap occurred.  

Even though the MTK/Top Rank star has had some back problems in the past, his many fans are hoping that Ryan’s back has been totally 100% healed for the beginning of part two in Ryan Burnett’s stellar boxing career.    Let’s hope so.

The Burnett vs Gomera clash for the vacant WBC International Super Bantamweight Belt in Belfast on ESPN+ is a production of MTK Global.

The author Carlos Costa is a Panama boxing reporter living in the Philippines. Carlos can be reached at carlos512@hotmail.comand whatsapp/viber/wechat +639184538152.