By MARK REY MONTEJO
Filipino pug Charly Suarez strengthened his bid for a title shot after leaping to the No. 1 spot in the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight class rankings recently.
The 36-year-old Suarez zoomed to the top after scoring a technical knockout win over American Jorge Castaneda in the third round of their bout last weekend at the Desert Diamond Arena in Arizona.
The phenomenal performance eventually landed him the vacant WBO International super featherweight crown while improving his win-loss professional record at 18-0 with 10 KOs.
However, the pride of San Isidro, Davao del Norte must wait a little longer as reigning title holder Emanuel Navarrete and interim champion Oscar Valdez will still duke it out in their rematch this December.
Before entering the pro scene, Suarez donned the Philippine colors in local and international tournaments.
He won silver in 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea and snared three golds and a bronze in the Southeast Asian Games.(2009 Vientiane, 2011 Jakarta, 2017 Kuala Lumpur, 2019 Manila).
The highlight of his amateur career was his qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
