OPSI FETES VICTORIOUS BOXERS ROSALES AND DEMECILLO
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 24 Mar 2018
CEBU CITY ? Omega Pro Sports International (OPSI) honored two of their road warriors after their successful campaign overseas. Two weeks ago, Jessie Cris Rosales (22W-1L-1D,10KO?s) travelled to Australia and shocked the home fighter Ibrahim Balla, who was knocked out in the second round.
A week later, Kenny Demecillo braved the bitter cold in Russia and stopped unbeaten hometown prospect Vyacheslav Mirzaev in four rounds.
Together with their Omega Gym stablemates, coaching staff and OPSI VP Jerome Calatrava, they had a Q and A with the members of the Cebu boxing media Saturday at the Manggahan Restaurant in Lahug.
Rosales was a ?last-minute? substitute in his fight for the WBA Oceania featherweight title.
?We received the offer with less than three weeks to prepare,? Calatrava stated, ?Rosales was always in the gym but he still had to cram to make weight.?
Eight months ago, Rosales suffered his first career loss to former two-division champ Jhonny Gonzalez of Mexico. The Omega gym trainers knew they had to go for the knockout against Balla, who represented Australia in the 2012 Olympics.
?We realized we would be outboxed and lose on points if the fight went the distance,? Omega Gym chief trainer Julius Erving Jungco, who was with Rosales in Australia said.
?Rosales was still 6 to 7 pounds over the limit a day before the weigh-in. I had to make him run lots of times. On the day of the weigh-in he had to lose four more pounds. I had to make him jog some more, use the threadmill, his legs were getting weak.?
?I just followed the coaches game plan,? Rosales stated, ?Just use one two combinations but use power punches.?
?We were worried he wouldn?t last the distance because his legs were tired,? Junco added, ?But Balla thought he could take Rosales? punches after outboxing him in the first round and decided to fight up close, that?s when Rosales caught him.?
The gamble paid off and Rosales now has a regional belt to defend.
?We may have to defend it in the Oceania region, fight again in Australia.? Calatrava said.
Demecillo was facing an unbeaten Russian prospect in the person of Mirzaev. But the cold wasn?t much of a problem for him. He spent time in Japan during the cold months as a sparring partner for IBF junior featherweight champ Ryosuke Iwasa.
Demecillo was better prepared for this fight, having sparred with a southpaw already. Still he was facing a WBC International silver bantamweight titleholder in his home turf.
?Our plan was to keep pressuring,? trainer Jingjing Tepora, who accompanied Demecillo stated. ?In the second, the Russian was hurt with body punches, so we continued our body attack, we knocked him down in the third and finished him in the fourth.?
Calatrava also said that Demecillo will be eying another regional bout. He previously held the WBA Oceania bantamweight, WBF intercontinental and Asia Pacific titles.
OPSI also announced that their other boxers will be seeing action in an April 3 fight in Bukidnon. (Separate story to follow).
Top photo (L-R): Kenny Demecillo, Jessie Cris Rosales and OPSI VP Jerome Calatrava.
From left: Trainer Jingjing Tepora, Kenny Demecillo, Jessie Cris Rosales, OPSI VP Jerome Calatrava, trainer Julius Erving Jungco.
Team OPSI.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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