Fighters make weight for PXC showdown

MANILA, Philippines - Except for one, fighters headed by Ale Cali, Erwin Tagle, Mark Striegl and Harris Sarmiento have all made the weight, raring to go against each other in tonight’s power-packed fightcard of the Pacific X-Treme Combat 34 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The 21-year-old Cali, who beat Guamanian Jesse Taitano in the PXC 29 early this year to win the flyweight crown and become the first Filipino champion in the PXC, tipped the scales at 125 pounds while his opponent, the comebacking Tagle, weighed one pound less, paving the way for their five-round title fight.

The 29-year-old Sarmiento came in at 145 pounds while the 24-year-old Striegl, seeking to extend his record of 11 straight victories, weighed 144 lbs, guaranteeing an explosive five-round, non-title bout that co-headlines PXC 34.

“I’m ready,” said Cali in Filipino in the weigh-in staged at the Gateway Suites of the Araneta Center yesterday.

Chinese Wang Sai, however, collapsed from exhaustion and dehydration just before weigh in, forcing the PXC officials to cancel his three-round welterweight fight against Japanese brawler Hasumi Hikaru.

Wang reportedly went to a nearby gym yesterday morning, hoping to make the weight in time. He, however, passed out when he arrived at the venue.

“Our fight should be a prime candidate for fight of the night so watch out for it,” said Tagle, a 34-year-old submission specialist who is back after a two-year hiatus.

Striegl, a Baguio-based Fil-Am whose Filipina mother is from Oriental Mindoro, is also out to make an impression against a fellow Fil-Am fighter, who has won 35 of his 58 bouts and who decided to go down from light to feather just to fight him.

“I didn’t shed weight just to lose,” said Sarmiento, whose comfortable fighting in the 155-plus class but make an exception on this one just to fight Striegl.

But Striegl remains unfazed.

“I know he has a reputation of being tough and a big brawler but I have a game plan of my own and we’ll see what happens,” said Striegl.