CEBU CITY -- In a sport where comebacks tend to dignify setbacks, a boxer?s claim to glory cannot materialize unless he sheds a sea of sweat, blood and tears.
This is what 'Clash For Glory' embodies when Pinoy Pride 42 is unleashed tonight at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, where IBO world light flyweight champion Hekkie Budler of South Africa aims to separate Milan ?El Metodico? Melindo from his IBF belt.
After scoring a emphatic first round TKO win over Akira Yaegashi last May 21 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan, Melindo erased the horrific memories of two failed attempts to become a world champion. The third time is, indeed, the charm.
Extremely dedicated and still dreaming of reaching greater heights, El Metodico vowed to leave no punch unthrown as he hopes to keep his title on his home soil and put up a show before the always appreciative Cebuano fans.
ALA Boxing stable head coach Edito Villamor assured the public that his camp worked hard on Melindo's mechanics, arming him with more ammunition against a well-credentialed invader intent on scoring a major upset.
?Iyong timing talaga ang importante, kapag hindi mo na-timing hindi mo mapabagsak ang isang tao.?
(Timing is very important. If a fighter doesn't have good timing, it's hard to drop an opponent) Villamor, a decorated former fighter, said.
Budler and trainer Colin Nathan arrived in Cebu City last week in order to acclimatize in a tropical setting, one that is a bit different from Johannesburg?s delightfully mild climate.
Confident in their solid game plan, Nathan threw diplomacy out the window and did not mince words when he declared: ?We?re going there to win, end of the story.?
Clash for Glory will be more than just two fighters slugging each other with punches blasting, it's also a homecoming of sorts for two champions whose paths with meet on an intersection that will lead to greatness.
Now that he is, at last, a world champion, Melindo wants to stay on top and he will employ whatever means necessary -- skill and will -- to parry this foreign challenge and set himself up for bigger fights and bigger paydays.
Budler, on the other hand, will try to recapture his niche as light flyweight champion, a task he needs to accomplish in a hostile place, a boxing hotbed where not even angels dare to thread.
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