Wednesday, November 21, 2007 Finally, Batawang fights Solis on Dec. 8
FILIPINO world title hopeful Bert Batawang will finally get the chance he has been working for in nearly 17 years—to fight for a world title against IBF light flyweight champion Ulises Solis.
The fight has been postponed three times already, forcing the IBF to demand that Solis shows evidence of his injury.
The last time it was scheduled was back in Oct. 4, where the IBF championship committee was forced to ask for medical report to find out whether the injury was real or faked.
However, after a month, the Mexican camp has finally sent feelers and offers to the Filipino mandatory challenger for a fight on Dec. 8 in Guadalajara, Mexico, the hometown of Solis.
Batawang’s manager Sammy Gello-ani has accepted the offer, citing his frustration and disappointment after the fight underwent numerous postponements.
It will be a tall order for Batawang, since his motivation and hunger may have been affected over the cancellation of the previous schedules. However, the 35-year-old puncher still has enough will power left on him, enough to make him the fifth Filipino world champion.
Last fight
Batawang’s last fight was back in Feb. 24 when he scored a fourth round knockout over Indonesian Sofyan Efendi.
He was scheduled to fight in the US in May but was canceled. Another scheduled bout came in July which was also put off. Then came the August fight, where he trained for more than a month in the US only to see his opponent ruled unfit to fight.
The schedule to fight Solis came a week later for September, but the champion denied the offer forcing IBF to name Batawang as the mandatory challenger and the fight was set in Oct. 4. (RCM)
