by Ronnie Nathanielsz
Newly crowned WBO International featherweight champion “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona was scheduled to leave for his hometown of General Santos City on Monday but promised to return in a week and to get back to the gym to train.
His promoter Sammy Gello-ani told BoxingScene.com/Manila Standard that Sonsona realizes he’s got a great future ahead of him and is committed to train hard for a possible title shot later this year.
Gello-ani and Sonsona’s manager Dr. Rajan Yraola said they would finalize details of the 23 year old southpaw’s next fight and make an announcement within two weeks.
However, there is no hurry to rush Sonsona who said that if Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he needs two more fights before a world title shot, it was fine with him.
Gello-ani told the Manila Standard that Sonsona had “changed a lot because he has a destination” which is to win a second world title after having won the WBO super flyweight title with a rousing twelve round unanimous decision win over Jose “Carita” Lopez of Puerto Rico in September 2009 in Canada after dropping Lopez for a mandatory eight-count in the fourth round.
Manager Yraola and trainer Jun Agrabio revealed that before the start of the third round when Sonsona scored a spectacular one-punch knockout with a devastating left uppercut against former world super bantamweight champion Akifumi Shimoda, they told Sonsona to “throw a right straight and then get him with an uppercut.”
They said Sonsona used the first two rounds to feel out his opponent and to find out how hard his punches were.
Both celebrated “Trainer of the Year” Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz said they were both impressed with Sonsona with Koncz praising him “for doing a great job” in scoring a stunning knockout against Shimoda who had won his last six fights since suffering a stunning 7th round knockout at the hands of Rico Ramos.
Super flyweight Jerwin Ancajas (19-1-1, 11 KO’s)who fought under the banner of MP Promotions and won by a 2nd round TKO over Thailand’s Inthanon Sitchamuang (19-7, 10 KO’s) with an impressive debut in Macau said “I was very happy when I entered the ring with so many Filipinos cheering.”
Ancajas said he had trained hard over the past two months for the Macau fight and according to trainer Nonoy Neri the youngster will be featured in an eliminator for the No.1 IBF spot on the undercard of Nonito “The Filipino” Flash who will battle IBF featherweight champion Simpiwe Vetyeka for the title in Macau in May.
Koncz told the Standard he was “very impressed with Ancajas. He has improved over his last two fights with trainer Nonoy Neri making him sit down on his punches for more power.”
