After taking care of business at home, ALA boy AJ Banal tries to take a toehold in the international arena when he fights in the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez card this July.
Last Saturday at the Cebu Coliseum, Banal stopped former International Boxing Organization super featherweight champion Mbwana Matumla with only a second left in the second round, with a calculated powerful overhand left.
It was Banal’s first fight in Cebu City since he lost to Rafael Concepcion in his first attempt at a world title.
Now that he has another opportunity to show the fans in Las Vegas and around the world that he is one of the elite boxers, the 20-year-old Banal will once again be sent to train at the Wild Card Gym under the watchful eye of renowned Manny Pacquiao boxing trainer Freddie Roach.
“We’re taking the fight seriously. We will be sending AJ to train for six to eight weeks in LA,†ALA Promotions Michael Aldeguer said.
Aldeguer was planning to fly with Banal to Los Angeles yesterday.
Aldeguer said Golden Boy Promotions, the promoter of the fight, will be pitting Banal against a quality foe because the Mayweather Jr.-Marquez is a major card.
“Freddie’s always been there. He always watches AJ’s sparring and has high regard for him,†said Aldeguer.
As of the moment, Roach is busy training Amir Kahn for the latter’s world title bout with World Boxing Organization Andreas Kotelnik on June 27 in the UK.
“Although Freddie is busy, hopefully he’ll help out in AJ’s fine tuning. It will be important for the fight,†said Banal’s handler.
This isn’t the first time Banal has worked with Roach.
He trained at the Wild Card Gym in his preparation for the Boxing World Cup in 2007, when he knocked Mexican Jorge Cardenas in the third round.
On the other hand, ALA Promotions will be evaluating the future of Czar Amonsot after his lackluster victory over Morris Chule also last Saturday.
“We haven’t watched the video of the fight. We are worried and concerned with his performance.
We’re going to have a serious evaluation on him and give him a bit of time to evaluate himself,†said Aldeguer. “He wasn’t feeling well before the fight but we won’t use that as a reason. We give credit to Chule’s performance. Czar just didn’t jab and followed the game plan.â€
After the unanimous decision was read, Amonsot was booed loudly. - The Bohol Chronicle
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