BARRANQUILLA, Colombia – Guyanese Leon Moore cleared the first hurdle in his bid for the interim World Boxing Organisation (WBO) bantamweight title Friday evening by making the weight for Saturday night’s battle with local star Irene Pacheco.

The unbeaten Moore came in at 117-3/4 pounds just inside the 118 -pound limit and it was Pacheco, who experienced some difficulty at the scales for the 12-round showdown at the Elias Chegwin Coliseum midnight Saturday East Caribbean Time.

Initially coming in a few ounces over the required 118-pounds, Pacheco was forced to come back half an hour later for a second try and eventually tipped the scales at 116-1/2 pounds.

Moore, who has been campaigning at the super-bantamweight (122-pound) and featherweight (126-pound) levels in the past year, was expected to struggle to make the 118-pound.

But his manager Sam Layne measured his nutrition and training schedule to ensure he dropped 10 pounds in the last two weeks to make the weight.

“Making the 118 pounds was a bit of a challenge but I made the weight easier than I thought,” Moore said.

“I am feeling very strong and you can expect a very good fight,” added the 27-year-old southpaw, who boasts an unblemished record of 16-0, with 15 knockouts.

Pacheco, a former world flyweight champion, is a 35-year-old veteran with a record of 32 wins (24 knockouts) against one defeat.

The clash between the two talented southpaws (left-handers) has been labelled an interim world title fight by the WBO because a decision is pending on the status of its current champion Jhonny Gonzalez, of Mexico.

Gonzalez moved up to the super-bantamweight division and lost a World Boxing Council (WBC) title fight to Israel Vazquez on September 16, and it is unclear whether he will remain as the WBO champion.

The winner of the Moore-Pacheco bout would be considered the WBO champion-in-waiting until a decision is made Gonzalez’s status.

The Barbados-based Moore, reported to have earned an upgrade from No.15 to No.8 in the WBO rankings this week, secured the opportunity only last week as a late replacement for Panamanian Mauricio Martinez.

Moore withdrew from a scheduled Guyana national lightweight title fight against Vincent Howard this weekend to take the more lucrative fight against Pacheco.

Pacheco, ranked No.2 by the WBO, recently moved up to the bantamweight division after losing his International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight (112-pound) title in December 2004 to Vic Darchinyan in Florida.