CEBU-BASED pugs Tomjune Mangubat, Ponciano Rimandiman and Esneth Domingo are all seeing action in Vietnam on Nov. 3, 2019.
Mangubat slugs it out with 19-year-old South Korean prospect Jon Seong Kang for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Youth Oriental featherweight crown in the show’s main event in Ho Chi Minh City.
“I will not predict. I just want my boxer to perform with his A-game and bring home the W,” Omega Boxing Gym head coach Jinggoy Junco, Mangubat’s trainer, told SunStar Cebu.
The 22-year-old Mangubat just tasted his first career defeat in 2019 after an eighth-round stoppage from Arnel Baconaje on April 5 in Cebu. He bounced back a few months later with a unanimous decision victory over Joffrey Garcia.
Mangubat is deep in training at the Omega Boxing Gym, putting in some rounds with teammates Pete Apolinar and Carlo Bacaro.
Kang, on the other hand, recently claimed the World Boxing Council (WBC) Youth Intercontinental belt with a fifth-round technical knockout of Chinese Qixiu Xhang in China. But he settled to a split draw with Uzbek Shokhrukh Ashurov in his latest contest.
Mangubat is 11-1-1 with nine knockouts, while Kang is 9-0-2 with six knockouts.
Meanwhile, Rimandiman takes on unbeaten Vietnamese Van Thao Tran in a six-round fight.
After an awful 2-4-1 start to his career, Rimandiman is on a roll, winning eight straight fights since 2016.
Tran is coming off a layoff. He last fought in June of 2018, winning a fourth-round knockout over Wichet Sengprakhon.
“We are looking for a knockout,” said Junco. “I know that we can’t win if it reaches the decision. If the opponent lowers his guard then there’s a huge chance of a knockout. Ponciano (Rimandiman) has nothing to lose. Bright it on!”
Rimandiman is 10-4-1 with five knockouts, while Tran is 11-0 with eight knockouts.
Meanwhile, Domingo of ALA Gym is up against Vietnamese Minh Phat Sam in a six-rounder.
Domingo is 12-1 with seven knockouts, while Sam is 3-2 with two knockouts. (EKA)