CHINESE knockout artist Dianxing Zhu arrived in Cebu City on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, just a few days ahead of his much-anticipated International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight world title eliminator against Ian Abne.
The bout headlines Chao Sy Promotions’ “Fist of Fury X - The Eliminator” this weekend at the Cebu Coliseum.
Zhu, along with his team and manager Robin Wong, landed at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport at 3 p.m.
The 29-year-old Zhu is eager to hand the unbeaten Abne his first loss and earn the manadatory challenger status. He is aiming for a knockout win in front of a hostile Cebuano crowd.
The winner of the world title eliminator will become the mandatory challenger to reigning IBF minimumweight king Pedro Taduran, who is expected to watch the fight on Saturday.
Zhu has a reputation of knocking out his opponents, with only three of his 17 total fights going the distance.
The two foes he failed to knock out were Filipino Richard Garde and fellow Chinese boxer Xiao Hu Tao. The third opponent who went the distance with him was Fangyong Zhang, who handed Zhu his only career loss.
Zhang has an impressive win-loss slate of 16-1 with 14 knockouts, while Abne boasts an immaculate record of 12-0-2 with four knockouts.
The event also features two exciting title bouts.
Jemuel Aranas (8-3-1, 4 KOs) slugs it out with Jeric Noynay (5-2, 1 KO) in a World Boxing Foundation (WBF) Silver flyweight bout, while John Paul Gabunilas (10-4, 7 KOs) returns to the ring against Ramil Roda (7-3-2, 4 KOs) in a Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) super-flyweight fight. / EKA
