PINOY PRIDE XVII FINAL PRESSER: BANAL AND SOR SINGYU VOW KNOCKOUTS (PHOTOS)
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 18 Oct 2012
PASAY CITY ? The adversaries for PINOY PRIDE XVII: Philippines vs. The World had their final press conference Thursday and the event was well attended by members of the local and international media. AJ ?Bazooka? Banal and Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand talked about their preparations and their prediction for their twelve round battle for the vacant WBO world bantamweight title.
?Pungluang will do his best.? Pariyakorn Ratanasuban, the female President of One Songchai Promotions of Thailand,said, ?He will make the fans happy and give a good fight.?
?Magandang laban ito. Bakbakan talaga,? Banal was a picture of confidence when he spoke, ?I came prepared to fight in every round. If I can knock him out in the first round, the second round then good. If not, I will knockout him out in the twelfth round. I am prepared to fight even for fifteen rounds.?
Pungluang was more certain of the outcome, ?It should not be a difficult fight for me. I have seen Banal?s fights. I am not worried. I will knock him out in the sixth round.?
?It?s good he predicted the sixth round, then I?ll knock him out in the fifth,? Banal countered. ?If he says, the fourth, I?ll knock him out in the third.?
Pungluang did get Filipino assistance during his preparations. Trainer Romeo Desabille was part of the Thai?s preparation several weeks ago, and talented Filipino southpaw Jerwin Ancajas was brought in as a sparring partner to duplicate Banal?s southpaw stance.
Pungluang trained inside a military camp for this fight. ?This is a special preparation, just for this fight.? He said. It is appropriate, considering that he is fighting a guy named ?Bazooka?.
Trainers Edmund and Edito Villamor were confident about their boxer?s chances. One of Banal?s sparring partners, Michael Domingo, spoke about Banal?s conditioning and said that his stablemate was in terrific shape.
Domingo will be facing Mudde Ntambe Radisson of Uganda in a non-title match-up on the undercards. The Ugandan trainer Abdallah Mugayi said that his fighter ?doesn?t like to talk, he is a man of action.? The supporting main event features Rey ?BoomBoom? Bautista against Daniel Ruiz of Mexico for the WBO International featherweight title. ?I had a very good preparation,? Ruiz said, ? I sparred with Humberto Soto, Hugo Cazares and Hugo Ruiz. I respect Filipino fighters but I will knock out BoomBoom.?
?I am in the best shape of my boxing career.? Bautista said, ?Let?s do it this Saturday.?
Jason Pagara and Miguel Antoine of Barbados will fight for Pagara?s WBO International jr.welterweight title.
?I did not stop training after beating Rosbel Montoya. I am well prepared.? Pagara said.
Antoine was confident of victory and wants to face Manny Pacquiao after beating Pagara.
Marlon Tapales will face Rasmanudin of Indonesia in another non-title match-up. Trainer Eper Tepora told this writer that Tapales was in great fighting shape despite the long lay-off.
Also featured on the undercards is Juan Martin ?Bai? Elorde, the grandson of the late great Flash Elorde, and he will exchange punches with Gerry Sismundo in a scheduled six rounder.
Also penned to fight in the preliminary bouts are Randy Bullong vs Kazuma Ejiri of Japan (4 rounds) and Robert Agcopra vs Nelson Sungahid (4 rounds).
Promoter and CEO of ALA Promotions Michael Aldeguer is not expecting the usual sell-out crowd se en in Cebu but he does expect a good sized crowd. ?We?ll see if we can get a bigger crowd next time, if Banal wins maybe fans here in Metro Manila will flock to the next Pinoy Pride event here.?
Attending the press conference was WBO Asia-Pacific chief Leon Panoncillo and the third man in the ring for the Banal-Sor Singyu title fight, Tony Weeks. ABS-CBN VP Peter Musngi said that the Filipino channel will carry the fight live.
The presscon was held at the Midas Hotel. The weigh-in will be held Friday at the Mall of Asia 11 am. Fight day on October 20 will be at the Mall of Asia Arena and fight time is at 6PM.
Banal and Pungluang (C) pose with (L-R) ABS-CBN round girl, WBO Vice-President Leon Panoncillo, ALA President Michael Aldeguer, OneSongchai Promotions' Pariyakorn Ratanasuban, ABS-CBN Vice-President Peter Musngi and ABS-CBN round girl during the final press conference at Midas Hotel in Pasay City ahead of their Saturday world title fight at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Bautista and Ruiz.
Bautista and Ruiz.
Pagara and Antoine.
Team Philippines and Team World.
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