ALTHOUGH tipped as the heavy underdog, Filipino challenger Michael Dasmarinas will try to make it “hot and spicy” when he battles unbeaten defending world bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue of Japan this Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Virgins Hotel in Las Vegas.
Known for his moniker “Hot and Spicy,” Dasmarinas will try to achieve what 27 other fighters failed to do as he tries to wrest the World Boxing Association super bantamweight and International Boxing Federation bantamweight belts from the Japanese champ known as the “Monster.”
Inoue successfully defended both straps in October last year with a seventh-round knockout of Australian Jason Moloney at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Before that title clash, the Japanese ring warrior suffered a fractured right orbital bone but bravely soldiered on to win a close split decision win and keep his championships against Nonito Donaire Jr. in their action-packed clash on Nov. 7, 2019 in Saitama, Japan.
Donaire, who knocked out Nordine Oubaali in the fourth round to capture the WBC bantamweight crown from the erstwhile undefeated Frenchman last May 29 in Carson City, California, has been angling for a rematch with Inoue ever since.
That latest win by Donaire, who was a 2-1 underdog before facing Oubaali, has served as an inspiration for Dasmarinas, who sports a record of 30 wins, 20 by knockout, against two losses and one draw.
The Japanese has kayoed 17 of his victims.
Boxing writer Allan Cerf of maxboxing.com had good words for the Filipino southpaw.
