Jaro vows KO victory in WBC title defense

CEBU, Philippines - Filipino world champion Sonny Boy Jaro will go all-out for a knockout win when he stakes his WBC flyweight title for the first time against mandatory Japanese challenger Toshiyuki Igarashi on July 8 at the Winghat, Kasukabe in Saitama, Japan.Cognizant of the fact that fighting at enemy's lair entails a lot of risk particularly a hometown decision, the pride of Silay City, Negros Occidental said he will give everything so that the bout won't last the full 12-round distance.

“I will not give my belt away. What I am looking now is a knockout win against the Japanese,” said Jaro, who pulled off boxing's biggest upset in recent memory when he dethroned Thai legend and WBC ‘Fighter of the Decade’ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam via a sixth round stoppage last March 2 in Chonburi, Thailand.

Jaro, who has woven a Cinderella story in Philippine boxing out of that shocking upset, sports a 34-10-5 record spiked with 24KOs. Igahashi, who earned a mandatory shot at Jaro's crown after scoring a unanimous decision victory against Mexican Wilbert Uicab on November 6, 2011, carries a 15-1-1 card dotted with 10KOs.

Jaro's manager Aljoe Jaro said that even if they lost the chance to stage Sonny Boy’s first title defense in Manila, he is still confident that his prized ward will return to the country with the WBC belt still strapped around his waist.

“We don’t plan to let this fight go through 12 rounds,” said Aljoe Jaro. “Sonny Boy is training hard for this fight and I believe in his ability to easily defend his title in foreign territory.”

So far, Sonny Boy has logged in 60 rounds of no-holds-barred sparring, including against WBC Silver minimumweight champion Denver Cuello. - THE FREEMAN