Shota Hayashi plants a fist on the photo of unbeaten Boholano fighter Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo whom he will face this Saturday in the main event of Pinoy Pride 43: The Battle in Bohol at the Bohol Wisdom Gymnasium.
contributed photo
Tagbilaran City, Bohol — Less than 24 hours after arriving in Bohol, former Japanese featherweight champion Shota Hayashi (36-6-1, 18KOs) immediately attended a press gathering on Tuesday morning with the local media at Abi’s Seafoods and Grill.
Hayashi, along with his whole team including manager/trainer Hatanaka Kiyoshi, arrived on Monday afternoon ahead of his championship fight against Tagbilaran-native Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo.
The Magsayo – Hayashi bout headlines ALA Promotions’ Pinoy Pride 43 dubbed “The Battle in Bohol” this Saturday, November 25th at the Bohol Wisdom Gymnasium.
Haysahi said he is confident of his experience over Magsayo, saying, “(I) was fighting since I was 16 years old, so I’ve been here longer than Magsayo. My performance on Saturday will show everyone how much I’ve learned throughout the years.”
Hayashi, who is turning 30 this Friday in time for the fight’s weigh-in, is so confident of winning he even threatened to retire as a fighter if he loses to Magsayo.
The Japanese however, didn’t reveal much about how they prepared for the fight and what they specifically focused on during training considering Magsayo is Hayashi’s first Filipino opponent.
Manager/trainer Hatanaka revealed that Hayashi has had the chance of sparring with former ALA boxer and now Japan-based Genesis Servania, who recently challenged and lost to WBO world featherweight champion Oscar Valdez last September.
Current WBO light flyweight world champion Kosei Tanaka is also in town to support his fellow Japanese fighter.
Hayashi, along with the other Pinoy Pride 43 foreign opponents of Albert Pagara and Jeo Santisima – Tanzanian Mohammed Kambuluta and Indonesian Kichang Kim – gave Boholanos a sneak peek of what’s about to go down this weekend in yesterday’s Public Workout in Alturas Mall.