By Rey Danseco
Mandatory challenger Dondon Sultan aims to bring back the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) welterweight title to the Philippines for the second time, when he fights Kazuhiko Hidaka, the Japanese fighter who took the regional crown from another Filipino, Rev Santillan.
The Sultan-Hidaka 12-round title bout will serve as the main event of a card on Thursday night (Friday morning in the USA) at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
It will be the first time Hidaka (21-4, 15 KOs) puts the 147-pound title on the line after he wrested it from Santillan (9-4-2, 4 KOs) via 4th round knockout last March 19 at the Korakuen Hall venue.
For Sultan, it will be his second chance to win the regional belt after he lost in a controversial split decision loss over 12 rounds to Japanese conqueror of two-time champ Santillan, Hiroshi Watanabe, in Nagoya, Japan in September of 2003.
OPBF chair Frank Quill of Australia, who was at ringside, had described the decision as "shame" to his organization.
Sultan floored Watanabe in round 6 and controlled the fight from that point. But two Japanese judges had a nationalistic decision in favor of their compatriot. However, Santillan regained the belt from Watanabe in their grudge title fight in April of 2004.
The southpaw Sultan, a Cebu-based native of Labason, Zamboanga del Norte, is almost three-inches shorter than the 5-foot-10 right-handed Japanese fighter. They are both 26 years old, but Sultan, born September 7, 1978, is 11 days older. Sultan has been the Philippine welterweight champion since September 2002.
The World Boxing Council (WBC) ranks Hidaka number 10 among welterweight contenders. The Philippines has two OPBF champions, minimumweight Rodel "Kid Rapido" Mayol and super featherweight Randy Suico, while Japan has nine.
