Junior featherweight contenders Ra’eese Aleem and Victor Pasillas both have big plans. The problem is that they stand in each other’s way.
Aleem and Pasillas are set to fight for an “interim” belt on the Angelo Leo-Stephen Fulton card Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. And they’ll do it in front of a large audience, as the card will be televised on Showtime.
The man who has his hand raised could end up fighting the Leo-Fulton winner or for a secondary title.
Aleem (17-0, 11 KOs) is a well-schooled boxer-puncher who is based in Las Vegas. And he’s on a roll: He has stopped his last six opponents, including Marcus Bates in a the 10th round in August.
That was the 30-year-old’s first fight scheduled for more than eight rounds, meaning he has reached contender status relatively late in the game.
“This fight is the turning point in my career being that it’s for the WBA interim title,” Aleem said. “I’ve always said I want to fight the best fighters in the division, and that’s exactly what I’m doing when I step in the ring with Victor Pasillas.
“I’m coming for all the belts, and it starts on January 23.”
Aleem respects Pasillas (16-0, 9 KOs) but he believes this is his time.
“Pasillas is a good fighter with a lot of skills, but he’s not on my level physically and mentally,” Aleem said. “I have the speed advantage, along with a better ring IQ, so I believe I’m the more polished fighter. This is going to be a dog fight, and a lot of hard punches are going to be thrown by both of us.
“I envision myself dominating this fight and coming out victorious by any means necessary.”
Pasillas, 28, had roughly 300 fights and a great deal of success as an amateur but took a 2½-year break in his pro career between 2015 and 2018.
The native of Los Angeles, who fights out of the Bay Area in California, has won all five of his fights by knockout since his return. That includes a sixth-round stoppage of Ranfis Encarnacion on Sept. 23.
Pasillas seems to be focused and confident.
“I keep telling everyone that this fight is going to steal the show,” he said. “I’m ready to put a beating on him and have the world witness a major beatdown. You have two pit bulls who are going to leave everything in the ring, and this pit bull will not be denied.
“This is going to be an all-out war and I can’t wait. I’m coming to knock his ass out.”
And he too understands what’s at stake.
“Because this fight is for the WBA interim title, when I beat Aleem, it’s going to put me next in line to fight for the regular world title, so this fight means everything to me,” he said. “I’m going to eliminate Aleem from the path, and I won’t stop until I become the unified champion at 122-pounds.”
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