Tomjune Mangubat. | Photo from Facebook
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Tomjune “Wardog” Mangubat is not bothered being the underdog between him and Olympian Charly Suarez ahead of their March 5 duel for the World Boxing Association (WBA) Asia Super featherweight title in Parañaque City, Manila.
In an interview with CDN Digital, Mangubat said that it is completely okay for him being the underdog against Suarez who is favored to win the WBA regional title.
“Okay ra nako nga akoy underdog. Dako sad ni nako nga dungog kung ako ang makadaog kay sikat man siya nga boxer,” said the 24-year-old Mangubat.
(“I am okay being the underdog. It is a big honor if I win because he is a popular boxer.)
However, Mangubat admitted that despite being the underdog, he is very confident of beating and knocking out the undefeated Suarez.
“Confident ra ko nga makadaog ug musabay sya og sukmagay naay matumba namong duha, ug paningkamotan nako nga sya maoy matumba. Kay gusto pud nako maabot akong pangandoy nga machampion sa boxing,” added Mangubat.
(I am confident of winning if he will engage me toe-to-toe then one of us will go down and I will make sure that it will be him, who will go down. This is because I also want to reach my dreams to become a boxing champion.)
“Nag expect ko og nindot nga duwa, lisud pud sya kontrahon kay nakaduwa pud ni sya sa Olympics. Nakaduwa pud sya ni lomachenco, unya usa pa ila promotion. Pero tagaan sya nako og nindot nga duwa. Kaning awaya para ni sa akong pamilya,” he said.
(I expect an entertaining match, he is also a difficult person to fight because he has fought in the Olympics. He has also fought with Iomachenco, and then they belong to one promotion. But I will try to give him a good match. This fight is for my family.)
He said that he was not feeling any pressure for this fight, instead, he trained very hard at the Omega Boxing Gym here.
“Wala ra nuon ko na pressure kay pareho ra mi boxer. Mas lisod karon akong training kay dili ni basta basta akong kontra. Usa ka dakong dungog nga makontra nako si Suarez nga usa ka Olympian,” quipped Mangubat.
(I am not pressured because we are the same — boxers. My training now is more difficult because my enemy is no patsy. It is an honor to fight Suarez, who is also an Olympian.)
Mangubat has been on a roll since his 2019 loss to Jong Seon Kang for the vacant WBO Oriental Youth featherweight title.
He is on a four-fight winning streak since 2020 and beat his opponents via knockout or technical knockout.
Meanwhile, Suarez, 33, a 2016 Rio Olympics competitor, has an unblemished record of nine wins with six knockouts. He is also a silver medalist in the 2014 Asian Games held in Korea.
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