THE South Cotabato-native Vic “Vicious” Saludar and the defending WBO world minimum weight champion Kosei Tanaka showed the kind of hard work they put in when they both made the weight for their world championship showdown tonight in Nagoya Japan.
The two protagonists tipped the scales at 104.72 pounds, lighter than the required 105-pound weight for the minimum weight division.
The 24-year old Saludar of ALA Boxing Gym will try to snatch Tanaka’s crown in a 12-round battle.
The gigantic showdown will be judged by veteran officials Levi Martinez, Lynne Carter and Zoltan Envedi.
Veteran referee Michael Ortega will be the third man on the ring.
Saludar is the current WBO Asia Pacific minimum weight champion with a record of 11 wins with nine knockouts and a single loss.
Tanaka, on the other hand, has five victories with two knockouts.
Tanaka won the vacant WBO world minimum weight title against Julian Yedras of Mexico last May 30 in Japan.
The fight saw Tanaka dominating Yedras to walk away with a unanimous decision victory.
In an earlier interview by ALA Promotions International, Tanaka said this will be the biggest and most important fight of his career.
He expressed confidence of pulling off a victory, saying he had studied Tanaka’s style after watching his opponent’s previous fights on tape.
Tanaka added he will leave no stone unturned to snatch the world title once held by Ilonggo Merlito “Tiger” Sabillo.
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