BANAL, AMONSOT BACK IN THE RING TONIGHT
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 31 Jan 2009
TABILARAN CITY -- ALA Boy AJ 'Bazooka' Banal, once touted as the brightest Filipino prospect to follow the footsteps of Filipino ring legend Manny Pacquiao before his devastating loss against Rafael Concepcion of Panama in a title fight in July last year at the Cebu Coliseum in Cebu City, will try to restore the broken pieces of his otherwise brilliant career when he goes back to action tonight against Nouldy Manakane of Indonesia at the Island City Mall car park in this city.
Also returning to the ring tonight after an absence of one year and a half is another ALA Boy in Czar Amonsot who was sidelined after a speck of blood was found in the region of his brain after a bloody fight with Michael Katsidis of Australia on July 21, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Amonsot has been given a clean bill of health to fight tonight and a chance to rebuild his budding professional career. Incidentally, Katsidis is also fighting tonight at the Cebu Coliseum against Angel Hugo Ramirez of Spain.
Banal (17-1-1 14KOs) has been given a more than even chance to beat Manakane (17-7-1 8KOs) but how impressive his performance tonight will most likely dictate the next step he will take as far as who his next opponent is. Nevertheless, Banal is set to join stablemate and WBO minimumweight champion Donnie Nietes in the United States next month to train and look for fights in the United States.
Amonsot (18-3-1 10KOs) had impressed a lot people in his fight with Katsidis and a win tonight against the unheralded Zoel Fidal (16-6-2 7KOs) will most likely lead to more important fights in the future.
All four protagonists made the required weights during yesterday's weighin here. Banal and Manakane came in at identical 119 lbs for their bantamweight battle while Amonsot and Fidal tipped the scales at identical 136 lbs for their lightweight bout.
Today's bout dubbed 'They Are Back' is being sponsored by Tagbilaran City mayor Dan Neri Lim in partnership with ALA Promotions. Six other professional bouts are featured before the two main events and is free to the public. The first bout starts at 6:00 p.m.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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