Filipino Flash sees knockout win over Bedak

MANILA, Philippines - WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. braces himself up for a “duel of left-hookers” with Hungarian challenger Zsolt Bedak in their April 23 fight he dedicates to his fellow Visayans at the Cebu City Sports Center.

Donaire said he would go for a knockout win, expecting Bedak not to stand the heat in a hot open-air venue in Cebu.

“El Niño is still in effect and it’s hot in Cebu. Even if you’re in fight condition but you’re not used to the kind of weather there, you would be drained. I think that would factor in,” said the Filipino Flash during the media launch of the fight at the Resto 9501 in ABS-CBN complex in Quezon City yesterday.

“I’ve sparred in the venue to figure out how my body would react. I vomited and we figured out it would drain you of everything in your body if you’re not prepared for it,” Donaire also said. “I’m now preparing for that. During the fight night with the lights on top of us, it’s like you’re in sauna.”

Donaire and Bedak topbill the Top Rank event that also features promising Filipino pugs Jason Pagara and Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo.

The fight will be aired on free TV on ABS-CBN on April 24 at 8:30 a.m., with a primetime telecast on ABS-CBN Sports + Action on the same day at 12 noon. Viewers can also watch it on high definition on ABS-CBN Sports + Action HD Ch166 on April 25 at 10 p.m.

Donaire has come early to enjoy all the advantage he can get versus Bedak in his first fight after what’s considered his performance of his lifetime against Mexico’s rugged Cesar Juarez for the vacant WBO super bantamweight crown in Puerto Rico.

The Cebu fight is dubbed “The Time Has Come,” and Donaire said he’s raring to come out and put up a performance that would live up to the hype.

For Donaire, the time has come “for the new generation of Filipino fighters to rise and show the world what we’re capable of.”

He said they’re ready to take the baton from Manny Pacquiao and keep a long reign for the Philippines in world boxing.

“We have a lot of talent. We have a lot of good fighters. We’ve just got to support them and it could lead to a long reign of Filipino champions from here on,” he said.