A LOT IS AT STAKE FOR SONSONA TONIGHT
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 22 Feb 2014
HONG KONG ? It could be a 'right on time' or 'a little bit too late' scenario for Marvin Sonsona tonight when he faces fellow former world champion Akifumi Shimoda of Japan for the WBO International Featherweight Title at the 15,000 capacity CotaiArena at The Venetian in Macau.
If Sonsona delivers, he will return to Macau on the undercard of the Vetyeka-Donaire title fight on May 31. And if he wins on May 31, he could challenge Simpiwe Vetyeka's WBA/IBO titles if Vetyeka wins against Donaire in the same card.
?This one, and the next one and then the title,? that's how matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz described Sonsona's path to redemption.
Another very interested spectator tonight will be Top Rank's Bob Arum who is looking to build future boxing stars from the Philippines. If Sonsona performs well then he will be instantly tagged by Top Rank as Pacquiao's possible successor.
Blocking the realization of the above scenario is Sonsona's opponent Shimoda who himself is eying to face the winner of Vetyeka-Donaire fight, and Sonsona's obvious lack of preparation for this fight.
Shimoda, from Tokyo, who has a win-loss-draw record of 28-3-2 with 12 knockouts, won the WBA superbantam title on Jan. 31, 2011 against fellow Japanese Ryol Li Lee but lost the title in his first defense against Rico Ramos of California in July, 2011 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Afterwards, Shimoda racked up 5 wins and 1 draw in six fights the last one a win over Mexican Alejandro last September at Tokyo's famed Korakuen Hall. His draw came at the hands of Filipino campaigner Roli Gasca.
Another hurdle for Sonsona is his lack of preparation in facing a title contender. Sonsona learned about this fight only in the last week of January. Although he had been working out for an activity fight for Feb. 28, his lack of rigid training and quality sparring may spell the difference.
Would Sonsona's exceptional boxing skills and inherent power enough to counter a well-experienced former champion and world-ranked campaigner and catapult him to the path of stardom? Or would his vices and care-free lifestyle catch him during what appeared to be the most important fight of his career?
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