Vincent Astrolabio | Facebook photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Top-ranked bantamweight contender Vincent “Asero” Astrolabio earns a shot for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) world bantamweight title against Emmanuel Rodriguez of Puerto Rico.
This was announced this week by the IBF, which gave Astrolabio’s MP Promotions and Rodriguez’s Puerto Rican promoters to reach a deal before Feb. 25 to avoid a purse bidding for the world title bout.
The IBF world bantamweight title is one of the four world titles vacated by undisputed Japanese boxing world champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue who moved up to the super bantamweight division.
Not many have known, Astrolabio of General Santos City has been making waves in the bantamweight division lately.
Astrolabio bagged the WBO Oriental bantamweight, WBC International bantamweight, and the WBO Inter-continental bantamweight titles from 2019 to 2022 in his six-fight winning streak.
That series of victories paved the way for the 25-year-old Mindanaoan boxer to move up into the rankings until he earned the top spot in the IBF bantamweight division.
Astrolabio stole the limelight last year when he scored a unanimous decision victory against former world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux in Dubai for the WBC international bantamweight title.
Meanwhile, the 30-year-old Rodriguez is on the road to redemption to reclaim the IBF world bantamweight title which he lost to Inoue in 2019 via a second round knockout.
He has a 21-2 (win-loss) record with 13 knockouts and is on a back-to-back wins against Roberto Cantu and Gary Antonio Russell.
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