CASTAÑARES GUNS FOR OPBF CROWN

By Dennis Principe

25.04 - UNDEFEATED Philippine junior welterweight champion Dindo “Diesel” Castañares will try to become the country’s fourth current Oriental titleholder as he guns for the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) superlightweight crown tonight in Tokyo, Japan.

The 22-year old Castañares will be facing defending 140-lb champion Masakazu Satake in a 12-round mandatory title fight at the famed Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena in Japan.

This will be Castanares’ second foreign outing since scoring a disputed 10-round draw verdict over another Japanese pug, Daigoro Yamamoto last October also in Japan.

This time however, Castañares plans to make his ballistic hands decide the outcome of his latest fight and will not settle for anything less than a knockout.

Castañares, who is accompanied by chief trainer and two-time world title challenger Edito “Ala” Villamor, parades an impressive 12-0-1 win-loss-draw record, nine wins coming by way of knockout.

Should he win, Castañares is expected to barge into the top ten world ratings since Satake (17-2-4, 10 KO’s) is the 10th ranked contender of the World Boxing Council (WBC) superlightweight crown and also sits as #12 in the World Boxing Association (WBA) ladder.

Castañares hopes to join superfeatherweight Randy Suico, lightweight Dennis Laurente and bantamweight Jess Maca as the country’s current oriental champions.

The Cebuano pug is also eyeing to become the first member of the dreaded “New Generation ALA Boys” of sportsman Antonio L. Aldeguer to win a prestigious regional belt.

Three other undefeated ALA Boys who are expected to make waves in the coming months are RP flyweight king Z Gorres, top superfeatherweight contender Bart Abapo and another flyweight sensation, Sherwin Paro.

Gorres and Paro are now managed by eminent lawyer Rudy Salud and businessman Marty Elorde, respectively, while Abapo is set to challenge for the RP title held by Bobby Pacquiao, younger brother of world champion Manny Pacquiao.

The Satake-Castañares OPBF title clash will serve as the main support of the WBC world superbantamweight championship brawl between defending champion Oscar Larios of Mexico and Shigeru Nakazato of Japan.