Thursday, February 02, 2006
Gabi steps up training
By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
OPPORTUNITY knocks only once.
Knowing and following this maxim, the camp of Diosdado "Prince" Gabi is leaving no stones unturned in its preparation for the Filipino boxer's coming title fight with International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight champion Vic "Raging Bull" Darchinyan.
Mike Koncz, Gabi's manager, said his ward had intensified his training at the Wild Card Gym owned by American Freddie Roach right after signing the contract to challenge Darchinyan.
Gabi, who hails from Barangay Lasang, Davao City, has been training real hard under the watchful eyes of Roach since arriving in the United States in August.
Now that the Filipino pug has gotten himself a shot at the world title, Gabi wants nothing less than a clear-cut victory to realize his dream of becoming world champion.
The 26-year-old Gabi and Darchinyan will square off at the Chumash Casino Resort in Sta. Ynez, California on March 3, or barely over a month from now.
Gabi stays in the house of Koncz in Orange County with several other Filipino boxers. He and Koncz travel everyday to the Wild Card Gym located in Hollywood to train for the fight. This was not Gabi and Roach's first meeting.
Back in 2004, Roach came to Davao City to train Manny Pacquiao, who was then preparing for a fight with Thai Fahsan 3K Battery.
North Cotabato Governor Manny Piñol, who was then promoting Gabi, introduced Gabi to Roach and the two had training sessions for a number of days.
Gabi was a bit slow then but Roach saw a potential in the Davao fighter.
Interviewed by the media during a break, Roach said Gabi has the punch and that he only needs to develop his skills to become an accomplished boxer.
Gabi, a southpaw like Darchinyan, is on a win streak. He has won his last 13 fights, 11 of them coming via the short route.
All in all, Gabi has compiled a record of 26-2-1 with 18 KOs.
In his last outing in September, his first fight on US soil, Gabi won via a fourth round technical knockout (TKO) over Mexican Jose Aflredo Tirado.
But to wrest the crown, Gabi needs to come up with a virtuoso performance against the undefeated Darchinyan.
Called the "Raging Bull," Darchinyan is a knockout artist in his own right, his last six wins coming via stoppages.
Darchinyan, born in Armenia but now fighting out of Australia, has a record of 24-0 with 19 KOs.
(February 2, 2006 issue)
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