AJ Banal is ready for his world title clash
AJ "Bazooka" Banal, the talented southpaw from the famed ALA Gym in Cebu, has forgotten the nightmare he suffered when he was knocked out in the 10th round by Panama's Rafael "El Torito" Concepcion in their WBA super flyweight interim title fight at the jam-packed, stifling hot Cebu Coliseum on July 26, 2008.
Nobody could logically explain why Banal, who was in control of the fight, appeared to suddenly wilt, although the humidity clearly sapped his energy and his potassium level dropped dramatically which resulted in him even collapsing on the way to his dressing room.
The sad thing about it was that at the time referee Raul Caiz, Jr. stopped the fight at 2:35 of the tenth round, Banal was leading on the scorecards of all three judges and could conceivably have won the title if he merely held on.
Philippe Verbeke of Belgium and Chalerm Prayadsab of Thailand had Banal ahead 86-84 while the third judge Francisco Martinez had Banal even more comfortably ahead 88-82.
By a strange coincidence Raul Caiz, Jr. has been assigned by WBO president Franciso "Paco" Valcarcel as one of the judges for the bantamweight title fight against Pungluang Sor Singyu this Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena, along with Levi Martinez and Robert Hoyle.
Hoyle is remembered for being the one judge who scored Manny Pacquiao's third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez a draw while the two other judges had Pacquiao the winner, giving the "Fighter of the Decade" a majority twelve-round decision.
As ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer points out, Banal is "a far more mature fighter today. He knows what lies ahead and he has prepared long and hard for this title shot. Hopefully, he has learned his lessons well and will come through."
Aldeguer had to wage a battle of his own to have the title fight staged in Manila at the spanking, new Mall of Asia Arena after the huge OneSongchai Promotions of Thailand appeared hell-bent on having the fight in Thailand, which is a risk Michael was not prepared to take knowing some of the things that happen in Thailand when it comes to boxing.
As Banal was the No.1 ranked fighter, Aldeguer parlayed that slight edge into a positive, but in the process he was forced to pay more than he originally bargained for with the Thai promotional outfit, offering Banal $100,000 to fight for the title vacated by Jorge Arce, in Bangkok.
But the youthful Aldeguer, who spent many sleepless nights figuring out a way to get it done, ultimately succeeded.
Even Valcarcel told us, "They were very, very tough negotiations and cost ALA Promotions a lot of money, believe me."
One other advantage ALA Promotions had was its highly successful partnership with the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN, whose vice president for Sports, Peter Musngi, was not prepared to let it go and wanted to set a precedent by staging the first world title fight at the Mall of Asia Arena.
As Valcarcel himself said "this is huge" even as he appealed to Filipino boxing fans to patronize the fight and help establish the Philippines eminent position in boxing in Asia.
The charming Pariyakorn Ratanasuban, president of OneSongchai Promotions and the promoter of Pungluang said she was "happy to be in Manila" for the second time, having been here some years ago with a female boxer who saw action in a card at the Flash Ballroom of the Elorde sports complex in Paranaque.
Pariyakorn said Pungluang was, like many Thai boxers, a Muay Thai fighter before. However they noticed that "he had a good punch and we changed him to be a boxer over the past five years and now he has a chance to win a world title."
She revealed that Pungluang had trained at a Thai Navy camp in preparation for the Banal fight. Pariyakorn said "we found a good trainer with more experience and we put Pungluang in the Navy training camp so he would have more strength and more endurance. He also had good sparring partners from the national team."
The OneSingchai Promotions lady president said she had heard about the MOA Arena and this inspired Pungluang "to train very hard because for me as a promoter I will expect to take the world title back to Thailand."
Banal, exuding a quiet confidence, told us he came prepared "to fight in every round." He said "If I can knock him out in the first round or the second round then good. If not I will knock him out in the twelfth round."
Highlighting his fine condition as a result of working out with strength and conditioning coach Pio Solon, Banal said "I am prepared to go even fifteen rounds if I have to."
Pungluang was equally confident. He said "it won't be a difficult fight for me. I have seen Banal's fights and I am not worried. I will knock him out in the sixth round," which Pariyakorn said was in order to accommodate sponsors of the television coverage in Thailand.
Banal jumped in immediately. He said "It's good he predicted the sixth round, then I'll knock him out in the fifth. If he says the fourth, I'll knock him out in the third."
"Pinoy Pride XVII" quite clearly promises to be a knockout!
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
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