By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, April 20: Sarawak boxer Daeloniel McDelon Bong, fondly called ‘Kilat Boy’, has nothing less than respect for his opponent from Thailand, boxer Yutthichai Wannawong, in his upcoming fight at the WBC Asia Silver Supper Bantamweight Championship at the Indoor Stadium Sarawak on May 11.
Hailing from Sri Aman and of Bidayuh-Iban heritage, 25-year-old Daniel said he had studied his experienced opponent, who he described as having the advantage in height at 178cm compared to his 160cm.
“Wannawong’s height could be his advantage, but I will find ways and a tactic to overcome this,” he said
Daeloniel said he has been training for next month’s fight with his local coach since March and is now in the final phase of his intensive training programme under his new Filipino coach, Reynaldo Inocian, who joined on April 15.
“As usual, I have two practice sessions—two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon daily except on Sundays,” he told reporters after his sparring session at the Sarawak Elite Boxing Centre today.
Daeloniel said that under the new coach, who had worked with former world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao from the Philippines, he felt that the coach had improved his technique and stamina in the last five days.
He added that to fine-tune his performance before the fight against Wannawong, the Sarawak Boxing Association (SABA) brought in the Asia Boxing Federation (ABF) bantamweight champion from the Phillippines, Herlan Gomez, to have a sparring session with him.
“Like today, I have six rounds of sparring sessions with Gomez, and the rounds will increase to 10 and 12 in the next few sessions. This is all for fine-tuning and identifying areas for improvement.
“Gomez is a good sparring partner because he is almost the same height as Wannawong. This is good training for me,” he enthused.
At the same time, Daeloniel said that fighting on his home turf, with support from his family, fans, and the local boxing community, would boost his morale.
“Like any fight, I always have confidence, but for this coming fight, I would not want to underestimate my opponent.
“At the moment, I rate my confidence level at 85 per cent, as I never like to be overconfident. Anything could happen in the boxing ring,” he said.
According to his ten professional boxing records to date, in his 52 rounds of total fights, Daeloniel won six, lost three, and came to a draw at one.
Sarawak Boxing Association president Datuk Rahman Lariwoo and Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneur Development permanent secretary Morshidi Frederick were also present at the sparring session. — DayakDaily
