MANILA, Philippines — Reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua Pacio isn't just keen on getting ready for his next title defense, but also on helping his Team Lakay stablemate Lito Adiwang recover from injury.
After an unfortunate incident in his fight against Jeremy Miado last March, Adiwang was forced to the sidelines as he recovers from surgery.
One of his closest allies in Team Lakay, Pacio says that he and his other teammates continue to help the strawweight contender to overcome his injury.
"Syempre, mabigat din yun sa career ng isang athlete pero we are fighters not just inside the cage, inside the Circle, pero, kahit sa buhay fighter tayo," Pacio said in an interview with Philstar.com.
"Yun yung lagi natin sinasabi kay Lito and minomotivate natin," he added.
(Of course, the is a heavy blow to the career of an athlete but we are fighters not just inside the cade, inside the Circle, but even in life we are fighters. That is what we have been saying to Lito and we are motivating him.)
Though Pacio, who is penciled in to defend his belt against Adiwang's former foe Jarred Brooks, said that the explosive fighter was not in any way discouraged by his injury.
Rather, Adiwang is eager to get back on track.
"Hindi naman siya nado-down eh sa nangyari sakanya. He's more on, nagcoconcentrate sa fast recovery niya. Gusto niya makatraining agad," said Pacio.
(The injury did not down him. He's more on concentrating to his fast recovery. He wants to train immediately.)
"Pero syempre, sabi ng doktor, hindi pwede muna. So concentrated siya on how to recover na mas mabilis and gusto niyang lumaban pagkatapos ng one year. Pero yung recovery pa rin ang importante dun," he added.
(But of course, the doctor says that cannot be done yet. So he is now concentrating on how to recover faster and he wants to fight after a year, but recovery is important in that.)
Brooks had defeated Adiwang in one of his previous fights to earn the right to face Pacio in the title bout.
Pacio and Brooks were scheduled to fight earlier this year but was forced to reschedule after timing conflicts.
Currently, Pacio is the only remaining world champion from the Philippines in ONE Championship.