Gerwin Asilo. | By Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Boholano boxing prospect Gerwin “The Gladiator” Asilo is set to seize a rare opportunity as he steps into the ring against some of Japan’s biggest boxing stars.
On October 14, Asilo will be the lone Filipino boxer participating in a highly anticipated mega boxing event in Tokyo, Japan, featuring seven world title bouts.
Asilo, hailing from Ubay, Bohol, is one of the top prospects from the PMI Bohol Boxing Stable.
He will face Japan’s Tenshin Nasukawa for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific bantamweight title, the sole regional title fight on a card stacked with seven world title bouts spread over two action-packed days.
Veteran matchmaker and trainer Edito Villamor confirmed on Thursday that Asilo will be part of this landmark event, marking a significant milestone in his budding career.
Undefeated in nine fights with four knockouts, Asilo recently claimed the WBO Oriental bantamweight title with a stunning second-round knockout of Thailand’s Suram Eaim Ong in Tagbilaran City on July 27.
He is also a former WBO Asia Pacific Youth bantamweight champion.
A victory over the undefeated Nasukawa (4-0) could propel Asilo into the WBO bantamweight world rankings.
However, Nasukawa is no easy opponent. The Japanese fighter has convincingly defeated three Latino opponents, most recently scoring a third-round technical knockout (TKO) against Puerto Rican Jonathan Rodriguez, proving himself a formidable adversary.
Asilo is leaving no stone unturned in his preparation. He is currently training in Cebu, sparring with none other than Melvin Jerusalem, the reigning WBC world minimumweight champion.
The event, promoted by Amazon Prime, will feature seven world title fights. It includes three-division world champion Junto Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs) defending his WBC world bantamweight title against Thailand’s Petch Sor Chitpattana (76-1, 53 KOs), and another three-division world champion, Kosei Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs), facing South Africa’s Phumelele Cafu (10-0-3, 8 KOs) for the WBO super flyweight belt.
Other world title bouts include Takuma Inoue (20-1, 5 KOs) versus Seiya Tsutsumi (11-0-2, 8 KOs) for the WBA bantamweight title, Kenshiro Teraji (23-1, 14 KOs) against Christofer Rosales (37-6, 22 KOs) for the vacant WBC flyweight title, Seigo Yuri Akui (20-2-2, 11 KOs) versus Thananchai Charunphak (25-1, 15 KOs) for the WBA flyweight title, Shokichi Iwata (13-1, 10 KOs) against Jairo Noriega (14-0, 3 KOs) for the vacant WBO light flyweight title, and Anthony Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs) versus Jonathan Gonzalez (28-3-1, 14 KOs) for the WBO flyweight title.
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