Jesus Cuellar on bout with Jonathan Oquendo: 'Fight I need to win'
Jesus Cuellar has a great affinity for horses.
As a poor child growing up in Argentina, he would ride wild horses with his father, and even recently bought a huge lot near his home in Buenos Aires for a stable. Cuellar rode horses professionally and had dreams of a career as a jockey, but he kept growing and was no longer small enough, leading him to boxing.
One such horse touched him personally - El Forastero, or foreigner, because the horse would travel to other neighborhoods to compete, and he says the odds were always against them. He owned the dark-brown horse for six years and says they never lost a race. But the horse recently died. Cuellar used to go by the nickname "El Jinete," but has changed it to "El Forastero" in memory of his loving friend, which he now dedicates his bouts to.
Cuellar (27-1, 21 KOs) is loving outside the ring, but inside he's violent. The WBA featherweight champion is a big puncher and has recently reeled off knockout wins over veterans Juan Manuel Lopez and Vic Darchinyan. He defends his title Saturday against Jonathan Oquendo in the Showtime co-feature at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
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"I'm aware that this is going to be very good exposure; I'm not underestimating Oquendo," Cuellar told Paste BN Sports through manager and translator Sebastian Contursi," but I'm very confident and I feel if I beat him, that would open a big door for a big fight against other guys. This is a fight I need to win. I'm used to fighting in front of big crowds."
The 28-year-old would like to unify titles against fighters like Gary Russell Jr. and Leo Santa Cruz, but there's one fight he wants most - Abner Mares. They've been on a collision course for some time, with Mares calling out Cuellar on Twitter. He wants to get the bout done next year, provided he beats Oquendo, as expected.
"I accepted his challenge on Twitter," said Cuellar, who owns two dogs. "Then we ran into each other at one of the fights and he had a scheduled fight and so did I, but I told him, 'You said you want me, so lets win our separate fights and let's schedule our fight.' He never mentioned me again, and I ran into him two or three months after that, and told him, 'You already win your fight, I already win my fight, so we are ready, we are free.' And I started pressing him. 'When? When?'"
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Contursi says Cuellar was hot and bothered and ready to throw down with Mares right then and there. But cooler heads prevailed, and the Argentine will look to earn the opportunity for his most high-profile opponent in the ring.
Cuellar has always had a steely determination. He started fighting when he was 8 years old, but when he was a teenager, he began to develop a breathing problem. He slept on the ground, with only a canvas covering the soil in the home, and when it rained, it would cause issues, pushing up dirt and soot.
He's getting close to grabbing the brass ring, with his biggest opportunity yet, but Contursi believes much bigger things lie ahead.
"I know that he really has what it takes to be there," said Contursi, who also managers Marcos Maidana. "He's always had a great will to be better every day. He really has what it takes, his attitude, he's really aggressive in the ring.
"I think he can really punch and he's big for a featherweight. But we like to work for him to control himself a little more. If he can achieve that, he can be one of the greatest featherweights in recent time."
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME )