By Nick Giongco
Michael Aldeguer, one of the country’s leading promoters, admits to feeling off at the mere idea of pitting two Filipinos in a world title fight.
But the Cebu-based boxing man swears that if mandated by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), he will have no choice but to send Jonas Sultan to battle reigning super-flyweight king Jerwin Ancajas.
“It’s always an awkward scenario when two Filipinos have to fight on a high level especially for a world championship,” said Aldeguer, head of ALA Boxing yesterday.
The possibility of Ancajas staking the IBF 115-lb throne for the fourth time against Sultan increased following Ancajas’ brutal sixth-round beatdown of Jamie Conlan of Northern Ireland over the weekend.
Sultan gained the status as mandatory challenger with a victory over former world champion Johnreil Casimero in a title eliminator a few months ago, a fight wherein Aldeguer admitted to feeling “awkward.”
“We experienced an awkward feeling when Sultan won over Casimero as our country needs more world champions and by eliminating another potential Filipno fighter especially a great champion as Casimero does not help Philippine boxing at all,” said Aldeguer, whose father Tony is regarded as the godfather of the Cebu fight game.