Laurente quietly trains for May 2 fight amid Pacquiao glitz

MANILA, Philippines – Lost in the hype of Manny Pacquiao’s highly-anticipated fight with Ricky Hatton on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada is veteran Dennis Laurente’s lightweight encounter with unbeaten Marvin Cordova Jr. in the undercard. Laurente, 31, is currently on a seven-bout winning streak that began in 2006. He is coming off a sixth round decision win (retired) over Arturo Orena during their fight in El Cajon, California last September. But against Cordova, the former Philippine and Orient Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) lightweight king may be in for a long night. The 24-year-old Cordova from Las Vegas is a rising prospect in the 135-pound weight class, boasting of a perfect record of 20-0 with 11 KOs. However, he was hardly impressive in his last bout, which ended up in a split decision win over Derrick Samuels eight months ago. Cordova is also known among Filipino boxing fans as he was one of the sparring partners of Pacquiao during his welterweight fight with Oscar De La Hoya last year. Laurente, owner of a 30-3 record with 16 KOs, is quietly training for his gig with Cordova at the WildCard gym alongside pound for pound king Pacquiao. A third Filipino in Bernabe Concepcion was also scheduled in the undercard of the Pacquiao-Hatton title fight as he vies for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight championship being held by Steven Luevano. But an injury to Luevano forced Top Rank Promotions to re-schedule the title bout. –GMANews.TV