FIREWORKS WILL EXPLODE ATOP THE RING IN PINOY PRIDE 44 LABAN SA LEYTE IN MAASIN CITY
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 09 Jun 2018
Prince Albert Pagara of Maasin City, Southern Leyte, Philippines and Laryea Gabriel Odoi of Accra, Ghana will clash on Saturday evening, June 9, at the Maasin City Gym in Pinoy Pride 44.
Many fans are asking and commenting over social media why is it dubbed "Laban sa Leyte" and not "Laban sa Southern Leyte." Southern Leyte is a separate province from Leyte.
ABS-CBN, the event's major partner and broadcaster, reasoned out that it was a marketing strategy to focus on the whole island of Leyte, which is known worldwide due to Leyte Landing and Haiyan or Yolanda, where Southern Leyte is a part of as its mother province.
Anyway it was properly advertised that Pinoy Pride 44 will happen in Maasin City which is known as the capital of Southern Leyte and the birthplace of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez and the Pagara brothers Albert and Jason.
Prince Albert tipped the scales at 122 lbs. while Odoi came in at 120 lbs. during the official weigh-in at the City Bus Terminal which was filled with lots of people to witness all the protagonists for the first time.
Albert promised to give a very impressive performance before his city mates and make this fight an instrument to propel his world rankings enroute to a crack at the WBO world junior featherweight title. Both Pagara and Odoi will vie for the vacant WBO intercontinental junior featherweight title, one step below the world title.
Odoi, who is very amiable to Maasin City fans and is ready at all times to take selfies with aficionados, said he will also show the people that he comes to fight in order to win and not to lose. Both main event fighters promised a knockout. So expect the fight not to last the 12-round distance as fireworks are going to explode atop the ring.
Knockout artist Jeo "Santino" Santisima of Aroroy, Masbate, who weighed in at 121 lbs. will face Likit Chane of Songkhla, Thailand who came in at 120 lbs. in the co-feature. Santisima has knocked out his last two opponents, Tanzania's Goodluck Mrema and Indonesia's Kichang Kim, all in the first round.
The bout with Chane will be Santisima's first championship fight. It will be for the vacant WBO Oriental junior featherweight championship.
Jason "El Ni?o" Pagara of Maasin City came in at 159 lbs., overweight by 12 lbs., while opponent Wellem Reyk of Bogor, Indonesia just weighed at the limit of 147 lbs. They will clash for scheduled 10 rounds.
Former world bantamweight contender King Arthur Villanueva tipped the scales at 120 lbs while his foe Renren Tesorio weighed in at 117 lbs. They will engage in another ten-rounder.
Former world junior flyweight contender Melvin Jerusalem of Bukidnon came in at 109 lbs. while his foe Philip Luis Cuerdo of Mandaluyong City registered 110 lbs. at the scales.
Mayor Nacional "Nikko" Mercado gave his all-out support to make the first Pinoy Pride in Eastern Visayas successful. Only few cities were able to host the iconic ABS-CBN and ALA Gym event and Maasin City is one of the few.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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