By Ronnie Nathanielsz
International Boxing Federation minimum weight champion Florante Condes leaves for Cebu City Monday morning to step up training for his long-delayed title defense against mandatory challenger Raul “Rayito” Garcia in La Paz, Mexico on June 14.
Condes will be accompanied by his trainer Danny Bactol and a brother who will prepare his meals and attend to his needs.
Respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer responded positively to a request we made on behalf of Condes and promoter Sammy Gello-ani who was instrumental in arranging the title defense along with matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz , for Condes to train at the world-famous ALA Gym. For Aldeguer the welfare of all boxers is paramount and he told us he would never refuse a fighter a chance to train in his gym.
Condes himself is looking forward to training in Cebu because of the availability of a roster of excellent sparring partners. He needs to be in the best condition possible if he hopes to successfully defend his title against the undefeated Garcia before Garcia’s hometown fans in La Paz.
The Mexican who has a record of 22-0-1 with 15 knockouts earned the mandatory title shot after scoring a lopsided unanimous points decision over Colombia’s Ronald Barrera in a title eliminator last February 29 in La Paz.
Condes who sports a record of 22-3-1 with 20 knockouts won the title in a close fight against Indonesia’s Muhammad Rachman last July 7 and needs to put in some hard work in the gym to make up for the fact that he hasn’t fought for almost a year.
Condes is a southpaw with heavy hands and has earned the nickname “The Little Manny Pacquiao” although it is clear that there is only one Manny Pacquiao and that is the reigning WBC super featherweight champion.
