SONSONA VERSUS VAZQUEZ FOR THE VACANT WBO JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHT TIARA; MAYOL WILL DEFEND HIS TITLE

TWO Filipino—Marvin “Marvelous” Sonsona and Rodel “Batang Mandaue” Mayol will step up the ring on Sunday in different venue, both eyeing to give glory for the country.

Sonsona, billed in the Philippines as that country’s next Manny Pacquiao, goes up against hometown hero Wilfredo “WV2″ Vazquez, Jr. for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight championship at the Reben Rodriquez Coliseum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico while Mayol (26-4-1, 20 KOs), will defend his World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight champion in the 12-round main event versus the WBC No. 1 contender, former WBC light flyweight titlist Omar “Giant Killer” Nino (28-3-1, 20 KOs) in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“My promoter (Sampson Lewkowicz) wanted me to take this fight because I have a big chance to win the title,” said the 19-year-old Sonsona. “It’s a good opportunity for me to get a championship belt back. I’ve trained hard for this fight and we’ve worked on his (Vazquez) weaknesses. He makes a lot of mistakes. This fight is very important for me, especially being on pay-per-view in North America. I want to make up for what happened in Canada and win another world title. I’m hungry and focused on this fight; I’m hungry like a tiger.

“Manny is Manny. It’s hard following in his footsteps but all I can be is my best and, hopefully, bring another world title home. Fighting in his (Vasquez) hometown doesn’t bother me. The officials will be fair and I have a lot of Puerto Rican fans, too. I’m not sure if it’ll end in a knockout, but it’s going to be a very good fight.”

Sonsona fought Alejandro Hernandez to a draw last November in Canada. Marvin, however, lost the WBO super flyweight title that he had won in his previous fight against Jose Lopez, due to weighing-in 2 ½ pounds over the 115-pound contractual weight. Sonsona is fighting two full weight classes above super flyweight against Vasquez, instead of taking a “tune-up” fight before fighting in this world title bout.

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO.