By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Filipino ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao will be at special ringside to inspire OPBF bantamweight champion Malcolm Tunacao and OPBF super featherweight champion Randy Suico when they defend their titles against touted opponents at the Nagoya Conference Hall on Sunday.
Pacquiao will leave for Japan along with friend and confidant Rex “Wakee” Salud, himself a boxing manager and promoter. Salud said they plan to return on February 7.
The last time Pacquiao watched a fight at ringside in Japan was when Salud’s fighter Eriberto “Yukka” Gejon was the victim of a blatant hometown decision against WBA champion Yutaka Niida.
Tunacao who won the OPBF title with an easy decision over Thailand’s Kumarnthong Por Pluemkamol last November 19 will battle undefeated 21 year old Japanese Kohei Ohba who has a record of 13-0 with 8 knockouts. Tunacao, the former WBC flyweight champion is a 27 year old southpaw with a record of 19-1-2 with 13 KO’s. Ohba is coming off a ten round unanimous decision over Mexico’s Jose Angel Berranza last November 3.
Suico, at one time regarded as a hot prospect for a world title defends his 130 pound title against Ryuhei Sugita who has a record of 30-2-2 with 22 KO’s. He is 29. The 26 year old Suico boasts of a ring record of 23-2 with 20 knockouts.
In his last fight Suico dropped a controversial majority decision to former IBF champion Javier Jauregui while Sugita last year scored a comfortable fifth round technical decision over Filipino Jeffrey Onate.
