By Kevin Estrada
Team Lakay will open the new year with a thrilling home stand in ONE: Fire and Fury, with the banner duo of reigning strawweight king Joshua Pacio and lightweight legend Edward Folayang highlighting the main card at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday.
The Benguet-based gym led by legendary trainer Mark Sangiao will have Danny Kingad, Lito Adiwang and newly minted SEA Games kickboxing champion Gina Iniong on the fight sheet on 31st of January, as they hope to continue their form when they went 3-0 last November in Masters of Fate.
Completing the Pinoy cast is Zamboanga’s Jomary Torres of Catalan Fighting System, as she opens the curtains in an atomweight bout with Taiwan’s Jenny Huang.
It was in the last Manila card of 2019 when Lakay made a redemptive statement when they teamed up with the Catalan Fighting System by going 3-0 before Pacio subdued Rene Catalan for his first defense of his strawweight belt.
Now, The Passion gets his biggest test as he battles former champion Alex Silva of Brazil in his second defense, but having an unbeaten record in Pasay , he is confident of his chances.
“I’m unbeaten here, and it’s because of all the support from the fans,” he said.
For the Landslide, he hopes that his controversial win against Mongolia’s Amarsanaa Tsogookhuu will be a thing of a past as he opens the year hoping to make a statement to get back into the hunt for the title which was currently held by Singapore’s Christian Lee.
“I want to start the year on a high note, with a statement-making victory,” Folayang said.
However, he would have to go such adjustments just days before fight night as he goes against Holland’s Pieter Buist, who came on as a last-minute replacement to Pakistan’s Ahmed Mujtaba.
“I’ve been in this situation before. It’s a good test for my adaptability, and I think this opponent is going to push me to my limits.”
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