By CALVIN CORDOVA
TAGBILARAN CITY, BOHOL — Two championship bouts will spice up the 14th installment of the highly successful “Kumong Bol-anon” boxing series on Friday, March 8, at the Saulog Gym here.
The main event will pit PMI Bohol Boxing Stable’s Virgel “Valiente” Vitor against Tae Sun Kim of South Korea for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental super featherweight title.
Vitor and Kim hurdled the initial test when they easily made the 130-pound weight limit during the official weigh-in Thursday, March 7, at the Island City Mall here.
The two fighters both tipped the scales at 129.9 pounds. The fight was originally scheduled last December but the Tagbilaran native Vitor suffered an injury during his training that led to the fight’s postponement.
“I trained for this fight for almost three months. Thank God this fight is finally pushing through. I will try to win the fight in an impressive way,” said Vitor (21W-3L, 14KOs).
Kim, who received celebrity treatment from local boxing fans for his looks, vowed that he will be going home with the WBO regional title.
“Vitor is strong, but I will do my best to win the WBO Oriental super featherweight title,” said Kim (11W-1L-2D, 8KOs), who drew loud cheers when he waved to the crowd.
“I feel happy that I have fans here. It gives me more motivation to fight harder tomorrow,” he said.
In the co-main event, Reymart “Cebuano Assassin” Tagacanao of Carcar City, Cebu will go up against Indonesian foe Hamson Lamandau for the World Boxing Association Asia super flyweight belt.
The Villamor Boxing Gym stalwart Tagacanao holds a 7-0, 6KOs record while Lamandau parades a 12-5-1, 9KOs slate.
Tagacanao’s stablemate Christian Balunan (9-0, 5KOs), the reigning WBO Asia Pacific Youth minimumweight champion, will face Clyde Azarcon (17-9-1, 6KOs) in a non-title bout
Other undercard fights will pit Sugarey Leonard Pores versus Jacklien Serenoso; Richard Laspona vs. Raniel Alisoso; Althea Shine Pores vs. Jessa Mae Languido; Arlando Senoc vs. Norman Russiana; and Leonard Pores III vs. Jarel Escreber.
Tagbilaran Mayor Jane Yap thanked the PMI Boxing Promotions headed by Atty. Floriezyl Podot for putting up the stacked card in Tagbilaran.
“This is a big boost for our sports tourism which was started by my husband, our former mayor Baba Yap. Sports tourism is something that we have been aggressively pushing for. In fact, the biggest coliseum in Tagbilaran is already being constructed. It can accommodate 10,000 people and we will hold more boxing events there,” Yap said.
