JOEY Canoy, a former Rex Wakee Salud (RWS) and Flores Boxing Gym stalwart in Cebu who is now fighting under General Santos City’s SanMan Promotions, will put his skills to test anew when he fights South African International Boxing Organization (IBO) world minimumweight champion Simphiwe Khonco on December 2 at the Orient Theater in East London, South Africa.
The 25-year-old Canoy will try to dethrone Khonco, who defended his IBO minimumweight title in 2016 by defeating Filipino Toto Landero via a 12-round unanimous decision.
Canoy holds a record of 14-3-1 (win-loss-draw) with seven wins by knockouts. Khonco has a record of 19 (7KOs)-5-0.
Earlier this year, Canoy went back to his hometown in General Santos City with a new team, the SanMan Promotions owned by the young boxing promoter JC Manangquil, who manages promising boxers like Romero Duno, Vincent Moralde, and Anthony Sabalde.
This will be Canoy’s second time to fight for a world title. His first crack for a world title also happened in 2017 in South Africa, where he lost to two-division world champion Hekkie Budler.
He lost via an eight round technical decision after his corner refused to let him continue to fight due to abdominal cramps that badly affected his performance.