By Hilmar Rojas

The lightweight champion, the World Boxing Association, the Venezuela Miguel "Aguacerito" Acosta, met late Wednesday with a session of ten rounds of sparring as part of the reopening of the Gimnasio Mocho Navas in Petare, Venezuela. Acosta will make his first defense of the black and gold belt on February 26 in Las Vegas, when he takes on Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios.

As part of hiss preparation, the Venezuelan bundled up with a number of professionals - Fernando Angulo, Jaider Parra, Alfonso Perez, Marco Antonio Avendaño and Frank "Gocho" Rojas - two rounds each and three minutes each.

Acosta said: "I'm comfortable with the work we have done and we've had a great preparation. I feel good about the movement and the speed that I've achieved with my hands. Today I was with boxers of lesser and greater weight, left-handed and right-handed, and I saw everything. I did well. "

Acosta, under the supervision of his coach Orangel "Memin" Ramos and his manager, Oscar Acosta, was working on speed and strength in each of the round. Furthermore, the cardiovascular, respiratory and resilience of the champion was evaluated by the team.

"He did well with the way he dodged the punches and stepped to the side, though he wanted to more sparring partners that were different, some who went forward, some more stylists, weights that were large and small, fast and slow," said Ramos.