Petalcurin stakes PABA belt vs Thai

MANILA, Philippines - Randy Petalcurin, a young fighter tipped to be the next Filipino to win a world crown, stakes his Pan-Asian Boxing Association (PABA) light flyweight belt against dangerous Thai opponent Samartlek Chaiyong-gym in a 12-round match at the Mandaluyong Gym this Saturday.

“I feel good. I feel that I’m in good shape. I’ll work hard to win this bout then get going for a shot at a world title,” said Petalcurin during the pre-fight media launch at 8 Spices Thai restaurant in Quezon City.

Petalcurin’s handlers are confident the 21-year-old Filipino fighter will be ready for the world championship after two or three more fights. They don’t expect Chaiyong-gym to hinder Petalcurin’s dream.

“I expect a big night for Randy on Saturday. We expect him to win. A knockout will be icing on the cake,” said American trainer Rick Staheli.

“Randy is physically and mentally strong, and he has a great combination of speed and power which other fighters don’t have,” added Staheli, who used to handle pound-for-pound world champion Manny Pacquiao.

Staheli said he’s even more comfortable with Petalcurin who he insisted is gifted with much fighting talent.

“He’s capable of winning world titles in three different divisions. He can contend in the 105 (lbs), 108 (lbs) and 112 (lbs) divisions,” said Staheli.

 Petalcurin holds a record of 16 wins, one loss with 13 knockouts.

A southpaw, Petalcurin took the vacant WBC Asia Boxing Council Continental title via a first-round knockout of Yodchingchai Sithkonnapha in June last year.

He won the PABA interim title last August against Michael Rodriguez via an eighth-round disqualification. In September, he scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Arnel Tadena. He also knocked out Jhera Tuyor in the second round during his last fight in October.

The 27-year-old Chaiyong-gym, on the other hand, has a record of eight wins, three losses with three KOs. He recently won an eighth-round decision over tough Indonesian Sammy Hagler. His biggest win was a unanimous decision over former IBF minimum weight champion Muhammad Rachman in January 2011.

Four Philippine Boxing Federation title fights are also up in the Mandaluyong Gym fight card presented by AKTV on IBC13.

Jhuriel Ramonal and Ariel Delgado slug it out for the superbantamweight championship, Rene Bestudio and Leonardo Doronia fight for the featherweight title, Rex Olisa and Richard Pumicpic clash for the bantamweight championship while Edison Berwela and Jaymart Toyco box for the flyweight crown.

Fights start at 6 p.m. Admission is free to the public.