WHILE NONITO DONAIRE AND HIS TRAINER/FATHER ?DODONG? ANNOUNCE THEY ARE GOING FOR A KNOCKOUT AGAINST BEDAK, JESSIE MAGDALENO WAITS FOR HIS CHANCE FOR A TITLE SHOT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 17 Apr 2016
Magdaleno.
A confident WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? Donaire and his trainer/father ?Dodong? announce they are going for a knockout against No.4 ranked former Hungarian Olympian Zsolt Bedak in a title defense at the Cebu Sports Center on Saturday, mandatory challenger Jessie Magdaleno will be watching the showdown on live streaming and while he predicts Donaire will win, he hopes he will get a crack at ?The Filipino Flash? next.
The unbeaten Magdaleno who has a record of 23-0 with 17 knockouts called out Domnaire after knocking out Filipino Rey Perez in the 7th round of a scheduled ten round super featherweight bout in Phoenix, Arizona last February 20.
His manager Frank Espinoza told BoxingScene.com Wednesday night. "Jessie is more than ready. He's hungry and ready for this opportunity" and even though he?d like the fight to happen in the United States he said ?we'd have no problem going over to the the Philippines to fight for the title."
Based on the WBO rules, Donaire is making a voluntary defense of his title against Zsolt Bedak (25-1, 8 KOs) of Hungary. Bedak has won his last 10 bouts in a row since suffering his only defeat at the hands of Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in May of 2010 when he reportedly broke his jaw in the second round and fought on gallantly before the fight was stopped in the 10th round. Bedak also had an impressive 9th round KO victory over talented Filipino Ramie Laput.
Espinoza who expects Donaire to win indicated "It would make the fight easier to make since Jessie and Nonito are promoted by Top Rank. I don't see any problem with making the fight. Should Donaire win, I'll then call Top Rank and see if we could get this fight moving."
He said "Jessie has gotten better as a fighter and we believe very highly in him. We hope the fight gets made and that Jessie becomes the next world champion to come out of the Espinoza stable."
In his Cebu press conference which was delayed for some three hours because of the regular delays in flights coming and going to Manila which has become notorious, Nonito said he and his Dad have made all the correct preparations.
He said ?we know Bedak moves well being an Olympian but we are prepared and studied his weaknesses that we can exploit.?
Donaire noted that Bedak is known as ?Mr. Left Hook? but reminded the media that he too has a lethal left hook and Bedak should feel his power and promised to ?look for a knockout opportunity in every round.?
Trainer/Father ?Dodong? Donaire said they have prepared to go the full 12 rounds but agreed with Nonito that they will look for a knockout.
After sparring in the sweltering heat in Manila, Donaire revealed he flew to Cebu one week before the fight to check out the environment, particularly the heat in the open air venue and had made the necessary nutritional adjustments to cope with the stifling heat but told The Standard he was concerned that Bedak who was coming in from Europe might have problems coping with the heat.
The temperature when Bedak left Hungary was around 79 degrees Fahrenheit but the temperature in the Philippines was around 95 degrees.
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