Virgel Vitor (left) and Tae Sun Kim (right). | Facebook and Tapology photos
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Virgel “Valiente” Vitor is out to reclaim the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental super featherweight title as he headlines the main event of ‘Kumong Bol-anon XIV’ on March 8 at the Saulog gymnasium in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.
The 26-year-old Vitor will fight in front of his hometown folks against an equally determined Korean foe in Tae Sun Kim for the WBO Oriental super featherweight title for 12 rounds.
ALSO READ: Vitor of Bohol to fight Korean boxer for WBO Oriental super feather belt
South Korea’s Kim and Vitor were supposedly scheduled to fight last December 28 in the co-main event of ‘Kumong Bol-Anon XIII’ headlined by Jake Amparo-Pedro Taduran’s world title eliminator in Tagbilaran City.
However, the fight was rescheduled to March 8 after Vitor suffered an injury during training.
Vitor once held the WBO regional title after he won it in September 2022 in Dimiao, Bohol, by knocking out Thailand’s Arnon Yupang in the third round.
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Vitor successfully defended the title by knocking out Kim’s countryman Dong Kwan Lee in their fight in Calape, Bohol, in December 2022 via a sensational second-round knockout.
He eventually relinquished the title and went on to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) Asian Silver super featherweight strap by scoring another second-round knockout against hometown bet Campee Phayom in Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2023.
Vitor, however, hit a brick wall and snapped his eight-fight winning streak after losing to Japanese Toshihiro Suzuki in his debut fight in Japan last August.
ALSO READ: Despite loss to Japanese foe, Vitor still thankful for opportunity to fight in Tokyo
Thus, his fight against Kim next week is crucial for his bid to break into the Top 15 of the world super featherweight rankings.
Also at stake is Vitor’s impressive record of 21 wins with 14 knockouts and three defeats.
Meanwhile, Kim has a relatively younger record of 11-1-2 (wins-loss-draw) with eight knockouts. This will be his first time to fight in the Philippines, but his second time to face a Filipino foe.
His first Filipino opponent was John Ray Logatiman in 2021, where they settled for a split draw for the South Korean super featherweight title.