Araneta faces unbeaten African knockout artist in IBF eliminator today

CEBU, Philippines — For the second time, Christian “The Bomb” Araneta of Cebu’s Omega Gym hopes to hurdle one major obstacle towards his dream of a world title fight as he battles the undefeated South African knockout artist Sivenathi “Special One” Nontshinga in a 12-round IBF light flyweight elimination bout today (Phl time) at the Boardwalk Hotel in Eastern Cape, South Africa.

In his first IBF eliminator, Araneta was stopped in the fourth round by Mexico’s Daniel “Cejitas” Valladares on September 7, 2019 at the Arena Jose Sulaiman in Monterey, Mexico. It was his first and only career loss, so far.

Unfortunately, the 25-year-old Araneta was hobbled by an injury to his right shoulder at that time.

“I’m in good health and in top condition now,” the pride of Borbon, Cebu declared. “I hope I could nail it this time.”

“I’m very prepared for this fight because this is already my second chance. I really need to score a knockout to be sure of victory because I’m in my opponent’s hometown,” he added.

Omega Gym chief trainer Julius Erving Junco expressed confidence on his boxer’s chances but stopped short of predicting a win via stoppage.

“We will showcase good defensive and counter-punching skills. Christian must stay calm, alert and wait for the perfect timing, the earlier the better. We will dictate the fight,” assured Junco.

Still, it’s a taller order for Araneta.

Aside from firing blows behind enemy lines, Araneta (19-1, 15KOs) is up against a formidable African power-hitter who all won his nine bouts via short distance.

Experience-wise though, Araneta has an edge over the relatively greenhorn Nontshinga who hasn’t even fought outside of his homeland.

And Araneta has an added motivation to bring Nontshinga down - the winner will earn a mandatory shot at reigning IBF light flyweight king Felix “El Gemelo” Alvarado (36-2, 31KOs) of Nicaragua.