Joshua Pacio seeks to regain ONE strawweight title

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino Joshua Pacio seeks to reclaim the ONE Championship strawweight title he lost to Japanese Yosuke Saruta in a much-awaited rematch in ONE: Roots of Honor slated April 12 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Pacio, 23, ceded his crown to Saruta via a heartbreaking split decision in ONE: Eternal Glory on Jan. 20 in Jakarta, Indonesia and has vowed to give it his all to regain the belt before the hometown crowd.

“It was a close match and it could have gone either way,” said Pacio in yesterday’s presser at the City of Dreams Grand Ballroom.

“I have prepared hard for this rematch and hopefully I could get the championship back to our country,” he added.

Truly, the Lakay standout got the better of Saruta in the striking department but the latter relied on his unorthodox takedown skills to make it uncomfortable for the former, which may have swayed the judges to score the win in the Japanese’s favor.

It sent Pacio to his third defeat against 13 triumphs while Saruta hiked his record to 19-8-3 (win-loss-draw).

The country’s hope also hinged on Pacio’s shoulder as four of the five titles Filipinos owned starting the year were lost on stinging setbacks by Eduardo Folayang, Kevin Belingon and Geje Eustaquio, leaving Fil-Am Brandon Vera the last Filipino ONE champion standing.

Also taking part in the Manila card is Eric Kelly, who is facing South Korea’s Kwon Won Il.