Regie Suganob (left) and his promoter and manager, Floriezyl Echavez Podot. | CDN Digital photo / Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — PMI Bohol Boxing Promotions’ top honcho Floriezyl Echavez Podot targets the World Boxing Organization (WBO) interim title or perhaps a world title shot for his prized ward, Regie “Filipino Phenom” Suganob, before the year ends.
This was after, Suganob put on a stunning performance on Tuesday, April 30, against the visiting Kai Ishizawa of Japan to defend his WBO Global light flyweight title in the main event of “Kumong Bol-Anon XV” at the Holy Name University (HNU) gymnasium in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.
Suganob scored a sensational eighth-round technical knockout win against Ishizawa in their much-anticipated “Philippines versus Japan” duel in Bohol.
READ: Suganob destroys Ishizawa to defend WBO Global title
Now ranked at No. 4 in the WBO, Podot is optimistic that Suganob will land a marquee fight before the year ends.
However, Suganob needs to take a break first to fully heal the deep cut on his forehead he suffered due to an accidental headbutt during the bout.
According to Podot, Suganob won’t be available to fight for three to six months to fully heal the cut.
READ: PH vs Japan WBO title duel officially set in Tagbilaran on Tuesday
In the post-fight interview, Podot revealed that they initially sent a letter to the WBO with the intent to fight for an interim world title or perhaps a world title shot.
“Hopefully this win would elevate Regie to the No. 2 or No. 1 in the WBO light flyweight rankings, but we have to wait. We already sent a letter to WBO, but they set aside our request to give way for Jonathan Gonzales to defend his title against Rene Santiago,” Podot said.
“What we can do now is to wait for the perfect opportunity to get the offer since Gonzales won the fight. We are very willing to face Gonzales here in Bohol or in the other parts of the Philippines because the WBO is our main focus for Regie,” he added.
READ: Japanese slugger arrives in Bohol to challenge Suganob
TOUGH WIN
Filipino boxing fans were delighted to see Suganob flooring Ishizawa twice en route to clinching an eighth-round TKO win.
It may look dominating from a viewer’s perspective, but Suganob admitted that Ishizawa was a hard-hitting, iron-chinned opponent who wasn’t easy to vanquish.
“I’m so happy because I wasn’t really expecting to knock him out. He’s a hard-hitter, his punches were strong, especially when I got hit in the chin, I felt groggy, but I managed to recover,” said Suganob who now has a 15-1 (win-loss) record with five knockouts.
READ: Kumong Bol-anon 15: Japanese invades PH to face Suganob in main event
“Also, the blood pouring from the cut affected my vision. It did bother me because the blood started to get into my eye. I just persevered and perfectly timed my counterpunches. Thankfully most of my punches landed perfectly on their targets until I was able to knock him out,” he added.
DEEP CUT
After being assessed medically, Suganob’s deep cut needs to be fully stitched and may take 3-6 months to fully heal as Podot mentioned.
Most importantly, Suganob was proud of his victory as it somehow avenged the recent string of losses of Filipinos against Japanese boxers.
“I’m very happy because we finally avenged our defeats against Japanese boxers. I’m very hopeful that my win will continue with other Filipino boxers. If ever Japanese boxers want to challenge me, I’m always ready to face them,” Suganob said.
Suganob trained for four months to prepare against Ishizawa. During his training camp, they changed some of his styles and punches to formulate the best game plan for taking down Ishizawa.
Podot added that the presence of Cebu-based boxing experts such as Edito Villamor who served as their cutman and strength and conditioning trainer Pio Solon were crucial to Suganob’s win.