WORLD Boxing Organization super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire and his Hungarian challenger and WBO world No. 4-ranked Zsolt Bedak are scheduled to arrive in Cebu City on Saturday, according to ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer.
Donaire, the five-division world champion, told The Standard he was leaving for Cebu to check out the environment at the sprawling Cebu City Sports Center with the stifling heat being a matter of concern.
In fact, Donaire said oppressive heat is sure to create problems for Bedak, who is flying in from the Hungarian capital of Budapest, where the temperature registered a high of 69-degrees fahrenheit and a low of 51 with sunny skies.
Bedak, the former Olympic boxer, scored an impressive victory over Abner Mares, who later became a world champion, in the first round of the Athens Olympics. He is noted for his sound amateur background, which is reflected in his fighting style built around both hands raised up, a good left jab and overhand right.
Bedak also has the ability to double-hook to the body and side of the head, leading to his nickname “Mr. Left Hook.”
However, the consensus among boxing pundits and fight fans is that Donaire possesses a lethal left hook, which he has demonstrated in several of his dominant victories, with a solid right added to his arsenal.
Donaire has trained rigorously in the sweltering heat of the “Bebot” Elorde Gym in Saint Rita’s Village in Paranaque and said he is “ready to go.”
After winning his first 12 fights, including the WBO European super bantamweight title in 2009 and the WBO Intercontinental super bantamweight title when he knocked out Filipino Ramie Laput (39-3, 19 KOs) in the 7th round, Bedak lost by a 10th-round TKO in a world title fight against Puerto Rico’s Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in May 2010, after he reportedly broke his jaw in the second round but gamely continued to fight on, until his corner threw in the towel when he began to take a bad beating.
