Negrense boxers Roldan Aldea and Carlos Caesar PeƱalosa will fight for the Philippine Games and Amusement Board (PGAB) titles tonight at the The Flash Grand Ballroom of the Elorde Sports Complex in Paranaque City.
The Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental-native Aldea is set to defend his PGAB lightweight championship for the second time when he faces veteran fighter Monico Laurente.
The 25-year-old is also all prayers to use the title defense as a springboard to the win column after suffering a unanimous decision defeat against Russian Ravshanbek Umurzakov last September.
He will be entering the title match with an impressive 14-8-1 win-loss- draw ring record, including eight stoppage wins, while Laurente has 30-16-0 boxing slate with seven knockout victories.
Meanwhile, the San Carlos City-native PeƱalosa aims for the vacant PGAB flyweight championship belt when he faces compatriot Alphoe Dagayloan.
Just like Aldea, he is also searching for winning ways after failing to capture the IBO world flyweight championship when he lost via technical decision to Maximino Flores last August.
The 26-year-old PeƱalosa will enter the match with 14-2-0 win-loss-draw record including two stoppage wins, while Dagayloan has a 14-3-5 boxing slate with five knockout wins.
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Meralco Bolts looks on the silver lining despite suffering another PBA Governorsā Cup finals defeat at the hands of perennial opponent Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings recently.
Bolts head coach Norman Black said that the runner up finish in the season-ending conference was in fact an upgrade for his squad after lagging in the standings of the Philippine and Commissionerās Cup.
“We came in 11th and eighth-place before the third conference so the addition of Raymond [Almazan] and Allein [Maliksi], and of course, the return of AD (Allen Durham) have us a more competitive team and gave us a chance to win a championship,” he said.
“We lost our big men in the finals and we never seemed to be the same team again,” he added. “I think, before Raymond got hurt, (the series) was tied at 1-1 and the first quarter (of Game 3) was a close quarter. We were competitive, but once he got hurt, everything changed.”
With his more experienced roster that hopes of notching Meralcoās first-ever PBA crown, Black now looks forward to the 2020 PBA season that will start in three months countdown.
“The positive side is we made it to the championship which means we started the league with 12 teams and there were only two left and we were one of them,ā he added. “While that’s not something that’s gonna make you happy, at the same time, it’s better than coming in third or fourth or fifth or sixth.ā/PN
