This long-kept secret is starting to emerge from the shadows and make some noise in the pro ranks after one hell of a run in the amateurs. While representing Venezuela at middleweight he defeated this formidable litany: James DeGale, Vijender Singh, Dmitry Chudinov, Marco Antonio Periban, Shawn Porter, the late Darren Sutherland, Alexander Brand, Ezequiel Maderna x2, and Kazakh amateur legend Adilbek Niyazimbetov. He was eliminated from the Olympics before the medal qualifying stages in a rematch with the very well regarded Sutherland, but obtained medals (silver and bronze) at two amateur world championships. Now, after five years of doing nothing meaningful (including a 22-month layoff) he is entrenching himself at the age of 29 as someone to reckon with having outclassed the 41 year old but still game & dangerous Sergei Khomitsky to capture the interim WBA title at 160lbs earlier this month. I was rooting hard for Khomitsky and could only find two rounds for him. In that one assignment, his first of any note since turning pro in 2010, Blanco proved to be a quick and defensively versatile boxer-puncher with sharp instincts. His power may be a bit lacking but he was able to more than gain the respect of the hard man from Minsk. A rematch in the pros with his old foil Mat Korobov would be very interesting to watch play out, and I might slightly favor Blanco going off just the Khomitsky performance stacked against some of Korobov's recent work (struggling with Derek Edwards and Blanco's cruder but more powerful countryman José Uzcátegui, and getting done in by Andy Lee). A couple more victories over top-15ish opposition could see Blanco displace the (like Korobov) more naturally gifted but inconsistent Jorge Linares as Venezuela's #1 p4p. Taking on Chris Eubank Jr. (especially if Eubank raises his profile further by defeating Gary O'Sullivan in December), who formerly held Blanco's interim WBA middleweight belt and may be keen to regain it next year, would expedite that process.
Blanco survived a very dirty and rugged fight with Khomitsky. Good experience needed as he moves up in competition.
