Mabait Keeps Active In Pursuit Of Bantamweight Title
By Jake Donovan
Marvin Mabait went into 2014 hoping to land his first crack at a major title. While such a fight remains such a possibility, the Filipino contender remains active as he faces trialhorse Alejandro ‘Payasito’ Hernandez this Friday in Mexico City.
The scheduled 12-round regional title fight serves as the third installment of the Spring season of Boxeo Telemundo, with the series heading to Mexico for the first time in 2014.
Mabait (19-1-1, 13KO) is coming off of an eye-opening 1st round knockout of Johnny Garcia last October. The bout, which served as the 2013 season finale of Boxeo Telemundo, placed the 26-year old in contention for a bantamweight title, angling for a potential shot at unbeaten Tomoki Kameda.
The 36 seconds required to drill Garcia served as Mabait’s third straight win since suffering the lone loss of his career, a 3rd round knockout against Marco Demecillo.
“Marvin continues to improve leaps and bounds, and his showing against Hernandez was a smash hit with the viewers,” notes promoter Felix ‘Tuto’ Zabala. “We will continue to move him towards a world title, but were thrilled with being able to once again showcase him on Telemundo.”
Friday’s affair marks Mabait’s second straight Telemundo appearance and also his second consecutive trip to Mexico. Prior to last October, Mabait had fought exclusively in the Philippines.
Herandez (26-10-2, 14KO) was once upon a time a flyweight title challenger, but has since become a gatekeeper of sorts in the bantamweight division. The 27-year old gets the thrill of fighting in his hometown of Mexico City, where he scored a win over Isao Carranza in his most recent bout this past January. Herandez had previously dropped three of his last four bouts, but remains a series favorite.
“‘Payasito’ always gives a good account of himself,” insists Zabala. “Friday will be his eighth fight on this series. Fighting at home, we expect him to give Marvin a tough fight and an entertaining main event for the fans in attendance and watching at home.”
The show airs live Friday evening at 11:35PM ET/10:35PM local (Central) time.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.
