Wednesday, October 08, 2008 Bangoyan, Otieno eye early KO By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
BRACE yourselves for a quick ending when Balweg Bangoyan of the Philippines steps into the ring to challenge World Boxing Council (WBC) international super bantamweight titlist Sande Otieno of Kenya in a highly anticipated championship showdown on October 10 at the Rizal Memorial Colleges (RMC) Gym in Davao City.
Both Bangoyan and Otieno, their respective trainers and even Jose Abad Santos Mayor Alexander Wangkay, who handles the challenger and the bout's co-promoter, predicted an early knockout in the main event scheduled for 12 rounds.
"I think there will be a knockout, and it will be within five rounds," Wankay said at a press conference Monday night at Dwenzyl Resort and Restaurant along Times Beach.
Wangkay said that based on the ring records of both Bangoyan and Otieno, and given the desire of the two fighters to emerge triumphant, he does not see the fight going the distance.
"There will be a knockout in this fight since both are hard punchers. Let's just see who is the better boxer on Friday," Wangkay said.
Otieno, speaking on broken English but direct to the point, said he didn't travel this far to lose his championship belt and vowed to defend this no matter what happens.
"I will defend my belt. Balweg, forget about my belt. This is mine," warned the 33-year-old Otieno, who won all his past 16 fights, including six knockout victories.
The pronouncement from the Kenyan, who took on a tiring 15-hour flight from Nairobi to Manila with a four-hour stopover in Doha, Qatar, opened up a lively exchange from the protagonists and their respective trainers that brought fireworks to the press conference.
"He (Otieno) better run. Otherwise, he will fall," countered Vicente Adriano, Bangoyan's trainer who was the most vocal between the two.
"I'll just try my best and win the belt. This is a good fight," said 21-year-old Bangoyan, who is called the "Davao Hitman."
Like Otieno, Bangoyan is also undefeated at 12-0 with seven KOs.
Paul Otieno, the Kenyan's trainer, said they have prepared for the title-defense for two months. He even saw a video of Bangoyan's fight.
"We have respect for Balweg. I saw his fight but I didn't let Sande watch it though. As his trainer, I know the kind of weapons we're going to use for this fight," Otieno said.
"A champion is always a champion," added the trainer when asked how prepared his fighter is for the fight.
Sande Otieno then said: "I must win. If I go home without the belt, they will kill me. Balweg must kill me first before he gets my belt."
Wangkay said this is the chance for Bangoyan to show his worth as an excellent boxer and to give pride to the people of the Davao Region.
"He is truly a Davao pride. We have built Balweg for three years. He is very ready. He's got a special talent that makes him ripe for a WBC title shot," Wangkay said.
