PETE Apolinar will force former amateur standout Hayato Tsutsumi to engage with him in an all-out brawl in their scheduled eight-round bout on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022, at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
“Our opponent has a high level in boxing. He has very high IQ and a very long reach. He’s really good,” Apolinar’s coach Jinggoy Junco told SunStar Cebu. “We need to approach this in an unorthodox way. That means we must fight him awkwardly. We need to confuse him with our style. He isn’t used to facing a brawling style. If we fight in the middle of the ring, it will be to his advantage. We will fight (brawl) not box.”
The 27-year-old Apolinar, who arrived with his team in Japan earlier in the week, is eager to bounce back after losing to Yoshiki Takei via a fifth-round stoppage in his last fight on Aug. 26 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Apolinar is stilled ranked No. 24 by the World Boxing Council.
Tsutsumi, on the other hand, has an extensive amateur background. He is a gold medalist in the 2016 World Youth Championships and also fought in the 2021 World Championships. He owns a win over three-time World Championships gold medalist and former Olympian Lazaro Alvarez. He also fought but lost to Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Ian Clark Bautista in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifiers in 2020.
The 20-year-old Tsutsumi transitioned to the pro ranks this year and beat Pinoy veteran Jhon Gemino by unanimous decision last July 13 in Tokyo.
Apolinar is 16-3 with 10 knockouts, while Tsutsumi is 1-0 but has an impressive amateur record of 22-4 with two knockouts.
Also seeing action in the same card is Pinoy super bantamweight prospect Robin Langres.
Langres is fighting Ryuto Owan in an eight-rounder.
The 27-year-old Langres is out for redemption after losing his only other fight in a Japan, a third-round technical knockout defeat in the hands of Ikuro Sadatsune in 2019.
Owan, in the meantime, is coming off a unanimous decision win over Filipino veteran Mark Anthony Geraldo in his last fight.
Langres is 11-4 with four knockouts, while Owan is 9-1 with six knockouts.
The main event will be a world title unification fight between World Boxing Organization super flyweight king Kazuto Ioka (29-2, 15 KOs) and World Boxing Association super flyweight titleholder Joshua Franco (18-1-2, 8 KOs).