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Merlito Sabillo to defend his WBO title in Mexico

ALA Boxing’s Merlito Sabillo was ready for his time under the spotlight. Gearing up for a title defense against Carlos Buitrago last November, Sabillo was a ball of excitement heading into the card that where he was the co-main event alongside fellow world champion Donnie Nietes.

Leading up to the fight, Sabillo ran through his mind all of the legends that fought inside the historic Smart-Araneta Coliseum: Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Gabriel Elorde, Manny Pacquiao. He hoped that his performance would be one worth remembering but his first title defense turned out to be one that he’d want to forget.

An overeager Sabillo showed up that night. He so badly wanted a performance that will rival that of the legends who fought there that he forgot to concentrate on just winning.

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For 12 rounds Sabillo and Buitrago boxed and when the result was about to be read, the crowd was dead silent.

Sabillo kept his WBO minimumweight title with a split draw and Buitrago kept his undefeated record but both were not unhappy with the result. Now, for his upcoming fight, Sabillo wants to see if the distance from his home soil will alleviate the pressure on his shoulders.

On March 22, Sabillo (23-0-1, 12 knockouts) will defend his title against Francisco Rodriguez, Jr., (13-2-0, 9 KOs) Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico; the very place where the challenger was born and raised.

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This will not be Sabillo’s first time to fight behind enemy lines. Last year, he traveled to Colombia where he scored a technical knockout win over hometown boy Luis de la Rosa to win the interim WBO minimumweight title.

Although Sabillo also has his sight on a rematch against Buitrago to make up for his performance in their first fight, he needs to forget about it momentarily and focus on the dangerous Rodriguez.

The Mexican may have two losses in his record but one was from early in his career and the other one came at the hands of Roman Gonzales, one of boxing’s best little men.

Both fighters have decent power even if they only weigh 105 pounds so this fight should not be much different from the action the boxing public has often seen from Sabillo.