Reymart Gaballo has to feel like he flew around the sun just to arrive back where he began.
The next step in the career of the unbeaten bantamweight contender from General Santos City, Philippines comes this weekend as he faces former titlist Emmanuel Rodriguez. Their makeshift main event–which was pieced together less than two weeks ago—headlines a Showtime-televised tripleheader this Saturday, live from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
At stake in the evening’s main event is an interim bantamweight title, the very same opportunity which awaited Gaballo earlier this summer. That fight—versus Juan Carlos Payano, who faces Gary Antonio Russell in the evening’s opening contest—fell apart due to a positive COVID test by the 24-year old Filipino who has not fought since last December.
When the phone rang to accept this fight on short notice in place of countryman Nonito Donaire, the question was never under consideration.
“When they said I could be the replacement for Nonito Donaire, I did not hesitate to say yes,” Gaballo told BoxingScene.com. “I was supposed to fight Juan Carlos Payano on August 1, but that fight was cancelled. Then it was Jose Velasquez (on the undercard of Saturday’s show) before they asked me to fight Rodriguez.”
Gaballo (23-0, 20KOs) was preparing for Chile’s Velasquez (28-6-2, 19KOs) for what was to have been the opening bout of Saturday’s show. The bout made its way to the schedule after a shakeup in the lineup, due to Nordine Oubaali dropping out of his planned bantamweight title defense versus Donaire. A revised tripleheader was offered, with Rodriguez brought up from standby status to main event.
Gaballo received the same upgrade once Donaire fell out, making the year-long wait for his next fight well worth the downtime.
“It’s been a year and a week since my last fight, but I honestly never stopped training, not even for the pandemic,” notes Gaballo, who has knocked out his last five opponents ahead of his Showtime debut. “I just stayed in the gym, keeping in shape even when there wasn’t a fight [scheduled].”
A win on Saturday will put Gaballo in line for a shot at the real bantamweight title and in the mix with some of the best fighters in the world.
“I know I have my work cut out for me to join the best at my weight,” acknowledges Gaballo. “There are some really good bantamweights, and I want to be considered one of the best. You have Naoya Inoue, Nonito Donaire and John Riel Casimero.
“Those are the guys I envision fighting in the future. I know them and have sparred with them so I’m excited to have a chance to be included in that group of names with a win.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
