Filipinos have always been in the backside of the match, either in life or in the ring. And on Saturday night, an emerging young boxer is set to flip that again.
Just like the living legend Manny Pacquiao, a native of Cotabato City named Romero Duno started fighting in the backyards until he saw himself in probably the biggest break of his early boxing career, fighting as the co-main event of the anticipated fight between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev at the historic MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
The 24-year old Filipino will fight Ryan Garcia for the vacant WBC Silver lightweight title.
The fight was an answered prayer for Duno after failing to get the match with Garcia on the first attempt.
On the final press conference of the undercards, Duno was all but grateful for the opportunity that the Golden Boy Promotions handed him, but that does not mean he’s not all business, in fact, he is far more motivated.
“It is a very big opportunity for me to show the world that not only Manny Pacquiao can do history in boxing in the Philippines. There are a lot of Filipino fighters that can do that,” Duno said.
Photo by Ponciano Melo Jr
Indeed, there are still a lot of talents in the country
Going back to the fight, Duno was asked why he chose Garcia, in which he is an underdog.
“I want to give the fans what they want. They said they want me to fight King Ryan then [I’ll fight him]. I am always ready, born ready,” he added.
Duno currently has a record of 21 wins in 16 knockouts with
one defeat.
On the other side, Garcia is 18-0 with 15 KOs.
Their bout is a 10-rounder scheduled on Saturday night.
The US jury voted against Manny Pacquiao in his Paradigm Sports Management Civil Lawsuit.
Boxing’s only eight-division world champion has been ordered to pay $5.1 million for the damages and the advance money Paradigm Sports had given him.
The Management filed breach of contract against the Filipino icon in his deal two years ago.
Despite losing the case, Pacquiao is confident that the decision can still be shifted to his camp’s favor.
Conor McGregor who is also under the PSM tweeted that Pacquiao should not let it happen again.
‘Manny owes 8 in all. 5.1 he owes and then 2.1 in legal costs. Legal fees are heavy but that’s what we do. Heavy weight operations,’ the Irishman said on a now deleted separate tweet.
It’s just a week away from the highly anticipated showdown inside the boxing ring, and Ryan Garcia is confident that he can surprise the champion, Gervonta Davis, and the entire boxing community.
Known for his lethal left hook, Garcia seems to have a new weapon up his sleeve, which he honed during his training camp and plans to showcase on April 22nd inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Despite putting on weight, Garcia still possesses his lightning-fast speed, and he claims that he is not intimidated by Davis.
“He’s nothing scary. He’s just a guy that’s trying his best to climb to the top as well, and we’re just meeting at a big event. That’s it.”
Considered the underdog in the fight, Garcia has the support of other boxers like Jermall Charlo, who even bet $10,000 on Garcia.
Boxing legend “Sugar” Shane Mosley is also rooting for Garcia, as well as Mario Barrios and boxing promoter Eddie Hearn.
After a devastating 7th round KO, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis fans saw a Mike Tyson blows Ryan Garcia with a twist in T Mobile Arena, April 22.
“Tank is very comfortable fighting taller people because when he fights he catapults himself, and pushes himself in the air, so it makes it very difficult to stop his attack cause it’s very awkward when you’re in the air, normally you have no power. But, the way which he catapults himself, it’s almost like a gun being fired. He flies right into you with every ounce of power.” Tyson said in an interview.
Meanwhile, a fan said “What the commentators didn’t mention is that this was a Mike Tyson style body blow which was generated from tank being in that crouched position, the upward motion generated much more from the legs and hips, plus being accurate and well timed, well played from tank.”
Davis got 58 total score from the judges while Garcia got 55. Tank Davis dominated Garcia in almost all rounds except round 1 and 6.
Boxing fans noticed the perfect timing and patience of Davis on the 7th round as he landed a liver blow that led Ryan Garcia to kneel down with pain.
According to the Way of Martial Arts, just as a shot to the chest area can leave you without air for a while or a dangerous shot to the head could render you unconscious, a liver shot can be just as painful and just as dangerous.
It can be recalled that Tank Davis has been compared to Mike Tyson due to their common styles. Although, Mike rejects that similarity except with Tanks Police issues.