Navarrete, Vargas, Akhmadaliev puwedeng hamunin ni Plania

MANILA, Philippines — Para kina Ben Baby, Steve Kim at Cameron Wolfe, mga ESPN expert pa-nel, maituturing nang title contender si Filipino fighter ‘Magic’ Mike Plania.

Dalawang beses pinatumba ng 23-anyos na si Plania si world title challenger Joshua Greer Jr. patungo sa kanyang majority decision win sa kanilang 10-round, non-title bantamweight fight noong Miyerkules sa Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Plania needs to improve his conditioning, but he has the fundamentals to be someone to watch at super bantamweight,” wika ni Baby.

Pinaganda ng tubong General Santos City ang kanyang win-loss-draw ring record sa 24-1-0 kasama ang 12 knockouts.

“Plania also has a pretty good amount of speed and quickness. He can jump out at you with explosive punches and keep you on the defensive with his twitchy movements,” wika naman ni Kim.

Plano ng manager na si J.C. Manangquil na ikuha ng world title fight si Plania, napilitan lang na labanan si Greer sa bantamweight class, sa natural weight division nitong super bantamweight.

“Mike will definitely stay in the super bantamweight division where the weight limit a 122 pounds,” ani Manangquil.

Ang mga maaaring hamunin ni Plania ay sina WBO super bantamweight king Emanuel Navarrete, WBC titlist Rey Vargas at WBA/IBF ruler Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

Ayon naman kay Wolfe, ang panalo ni Plania kay Greer (22-2-2, 12 KOs) ang nagpakilala sa kanya sa world boxing scene.

“Plania, a lightly unknown prospect coming into this fight, now has the boxing world’s attention,” ani Wolfe. “He has earned himself a shot in another main event against a potential contender.”