Suico Is Japan-Bound on Friday
By Salven L. Lagumbay
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 16 Apr 2007
OPBF lightweight king Randy 'Komong Bato' Suico is set to fly to Osaka, Japan on Friday as he defends his title against Japanese prospect Tomonori Nakagawa on April 23 at the Prefectural Gym in Osaka.
Suico, who is one of only two most active OPBF champs in the region, will be accompanied in the trip by trainer Juanito Ablaca, who revealed in an interview that his ward has already logged close to 130 rounds of sparring for the fight.
Suico and Ablaca are scheduled to secure their Japanese visas today at the Japan Consulate in Cebu, and will fly to Manila at on Friday morning en route to Osaka.
"If victorious, the Filipino hard-puncher (Suico) will take on OPBF#2 Koji Samejima (15-1-1, 6 KOs) who recently scored a couple of important knockouts over Filipino champ Dexter Delada and Thai ruler Songnarong Kiatsingnoi to his credit," reported Suico's manager Joe Koizumi. "Suico is also scheduled to put his belt on the line against hard-hitting Japanese Keita Manabe (26-3, 22 KOs) in Tokyo this fall," Koizumi added.
According to Ablaca, Suico has been sparring against Christopher Saluday, Czar Amonsot, Mark Jason Melliguen and Dondon Sultan at the ALA Gym, Wakee Salud Gym and IPI gym.
"He's ready for this fight. We are confident of a win," said Ablaca in an interview at the Japan consulate.
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