Petalcorin faces ex-sparmate in world title fight

A FAMILIAR face stands in the way of Randy “Razor” Petalcorin when he guns for a second world title belt on April 15 at the Melbourne Pavilion in Victoria, Australia.

Petalcorin of the General Santos City-based Sanman Boxing Gym will be fighting Tanzania’s Omar “Lion Boy” Kimweri for the World Boxing Council (WBC) World Silver flyweight title.

“I’m not scared of Kimweri. We sparred already before in Melbourne two years ago and I don’t find any problems in beating him,” said this year’s Gabriel Elorde Boxer of the Year awardee in a press statement.

Jim Claude Manangquil, chief executive officer of the Sanman Promotions, said Petalcorin is just testing the waters in the flyweight division.

“He is really a light flyweight. We will see if he look good in 112 pounds. But the original plan was really to be at 108 pounds only,” said Manangquil, who is co-managing Petalcorin with Australian Peter Maniatis.

The 24-year-old Petalcorin, who has 23 wins, 18 by knockouts with one loss and a draw, is currently the interim World Boxing Association (WBA) light flyweight champion.

Petalcorin won the WBA world light flyweight title against Walter Tello last August 26, 2014 in Shanghai, China. He defended the crown via a TKO win over Yi Ming Ma last April 24, 2015 in Beijing, China.

Kimweri (15W-3L-0D, 6 KOs) is not an easy prey. The 33-year-old orthodox fighter is currently the WBA Pan African light flyweight title-holder—a title he won in Victoria, Australia last Feb. 26 where he defeated Michael Camelion via a unanimous decision.

Kimweri fought but lost to Shin Ono for the for the vacant OPBF light flyweight title last January 12, 2013 in Tokyo, Japan.

Kimweri, who is also a former WBO Oriental light flyweight and Australian flyweight champion, recovered from the loss to win his current crown.