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.
An all-time explosive heavyweight boxing match is nearing its deal as UFC heavyweight world champion Francis Nganou revealed that he is closing in to a Deontay Wilder boxing match! The Cameroonian left the MMA scene after a failed contract negotiations and chose a boxing switch. He has been very vocal about it and has his eyes on Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, but the latter is in deeper talks with him. “Yes, we have had the conversation and at this moment, we’re more closer than with anybody else,” he said in MMA Hour. Nganou also predicted a bold on if the fight come into fruition. “I think somebody will take somebody’s head off. I would just try [for it] not to be mine. I think that’s probably what’s going to happen.” Ngannou started boxing training at the age of 22, against his family’s initial opposition. Ngannou stopped working out after a year of training because of an illness. He worked a variety of odd jobs to make ends meet until deciding to move to Paris, France, at the age of 26 in order to pursue a career in boxing. He was imprisoned for two months in Spain for trespassing after arriving in Europe, though. Ngannou arrived in Paris without any money, friends, or a place to stay. He first encountered Francis Carmont, who introduced him to Fernand Lopez and the MMA factory, after he had spent time homeless on the streets of Paris. Ngannou, an admirer of Mike Tyson, first wanted to learn how to box; however, Lopez recognized his potential in MMA and persuaded him to give MMA a try. Ngannou’s MMA career was launched when Lopez handed him some MMA equipment and free use of the facility to train and sleep. With such background, Ngannou will finally has his chance to fight for the sport he first loved. Will he be able to make a resounding boxing debut or will Deontay “the Bronze Boomer” will welcome him in the sport in a brutal way he only know how?
After successfully unifying all bantamweights belts to become the undisputed champion, Naoya Inoue is set to conquer another division as he eyes to steal Stephen Fultons’ unified super bantamweight belts on their upcoming May 7 bout in Yokohama, Japan.
Inoue, dubbed as The Monster, has been living up to the hype to continue improving his already impressive career of 24 wins from 21 knockouts and no defeat.
At 29 years old, in the prime of his career, Inoue is now looking to add more belts on his waist and be the new pound-for-pound king. He currently ranks second behind Canelo Alvarez.
Meanwhile, Fulton is not to take lightly as the no. 1 boxer in the super bantamweight class is also unbeaten after 21 fights with eight knockouts.
Interesting to see is how weight will affect Inoue’s performance against Fulton who will be fighting in his own division.