SULAIMAN IMPRESSED BY BANAL?S SHOWING
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 16 Apr 2008
World Boxing Council president Don Jose Sulaiman says he was impressed with the ?very good? performance of junior bantamweight AJ ?Bazooka? Banal who scored a spectacular fourth round technical knock out (TKO) over WBC No. 2 ranked Caril Herrera last April 6 at the Araneta Coliseum.
The undefeated Banal who improved his record to 17-0-1 with 14 knockouts, hammered the undefeated Latino champion into submission at 1:18 of round four when Thai referee Somsak Sirianant called a halt.
The previously unbeaten Herrera had a record of 21-0 with 13 knockouts but was no match for the hard-hitting 19 year old Filipino southpaw from the famed ALA Gym of respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer.
In an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Sulaiman said Banal who was not ranked by the WBC would ?definitely? break into the rankings because of his fine performance against the WBC?s No.2.
Banal is currently rated No. 6 by the World Boxing Organization (WBA), No. 7 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 4 by the World Boxing Organization (WBO).
WBO president ?Paco? Valcarcel had earlier told Viva Sports that Banal reminded him of ?a young Hector ?Macho? Camacho with his style, movement and punching power.?
With the win over Herrera which was an eliminator for the No.1 spot in the IBF rankings Banal could be in line for a title shot against reigning champion Dimitri Kirilov who will defend his title against Australia?s Vic Darchinyan reportedly in July. However, Aldeguer has made it clear he doesn?t plan to rush Banal and is likely to get him a couple of fights more before thinking of a title shot.
The idea of fighting the undefeated Herrera was to be able to break into the top ten ratings of the WBC which is regarded as the No.1 boxing organization in the world.
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