By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Hard hitting Dondon Sultan, a one punch knockout artist battles Japan’s Kazuhiko Hidaka for the Orient Pacific Boxing Federation welterweight title at the famed Korakuen Hall in Tokyo today.
The 26 year old Hidaka who is rated No. 10 by the WBC won the title with a stunning fourth round KO over the Philippines Rev Santillan last March 19. He is a 5’10” southpaw who will have a definite height and reach advantage over Sultan besides sporting a much better fight record of 21-4 with 15 knockouts. Sultan’s record is 9-4-2 with 4 KO’S.
Sultan who os ranked No.1 both by the OPBF and the WBO Asia-Pacific is coming off a first round TKO victory over Ramil Caballes to grab the Philippine welterweight title. He had earlier shocked Australia’s Solomon Egberime with a one punch KO in the ninth round of a scheduled ten round bout on June 25, 2004 in Sydney. It was a stunning end to a fight that Egberime controlled upto that point with his quick hands and accurate punches.
Sultan has been training hard at the ALA Gym of Cebu boxing patron Tony Aldeguer under the watchful eye of trainer Edmund Villamor and is expected to give Hidaka a rough time. Sultan has sparred with a roster of truly talented fighters including OPBF super feaherweight champion and world rated Randy Suico, lightweight Dexter Delada and WBF junior welterweight champion Dindo Castanares among others.
Sultan who watched tapes of Hidaka including his KO win over Santiallan claims he has "faced stronger fighters in the past" and knows "what punch to watch out for."
