MINNEAPOLIS -- In his slow but steady rise to become the IBF's No. 1 junior bantamweight contender, Jade Bornea has proven himself as a heavy-handed fighter with 12 KOs in 16 bouts.
But for Bornea to win his challenge against defending champion Fernando Martinez Sunday morning, Manila time at The Armory in Minneapolis, the unbeaten 28-year-old Filipino will need his feet to arrive at victory.
Martinez, you see, is super aggressive, a 5-foot 3 1/2 ball of fire who swarms and punches in volumes. It will be wise to get the hell out of the way.
"Jade needs to box and use his speed to elude danger while piling up the points. He needs to exploit the angles while launching his attacks. Those are his marching orders from coach Ernel Fontanilla and myself," said Titing Lariosa, Bornea's assistant coach and cutman.
IN OTHER WORDS, JADE BORNEA NEEDS TO STAY BUSY WHILE DODGING DANGER.
Bornea is a 3-1 underdog and Lariosa thinks Jade's relative inexperience of not having fought a title fight before factored into that as well as the fact that Martinez twice beat a "squeezed" Jerwin Ancajas who is now campaigning in the bantamweight division.
After the early afternoon weigh-in Bornea retreated to his 14th floor room at the high-end Foshay hotel.
He wolfed down some steak, beef stew, and chicken. He called it a night at 7:30.
The married father of two climbs the ring Saturday night (Sunday morning, Manila time) and the hope is that he brings home the bacon and Filipino fans will hear one of the sweetest three words in boxing.
"And the new....!!!!
PRETTY AND HAPPY
Jerwin Ancajas ruled the IBF's junior bantamweight division for five years and defended his belt nine times.
But he had eventually outgrown that weight class and struggled at the scales when he relinquished his title to the fiery Martinez, the man Bornea is now attempting to dethrone.
Those days of looking gaunt and emaciated during weigh-ins are in the past.
Jerwin is now campaigning as a bantamweight who easily tipped the scales at a catchweight 121 pounds.
MINI FEAST
After the weigh-in, the 31-year old enjoyed a bowl of chicken soup and had a tuna sandwich. He also indulged in some fruits.
"Masayahin po. Ngayon lang siya lumaban na hindi nahirapan sa timbang, Joven Jimenez told SPIN.ph. "Super excited po si Jerwin lalo na 118 pounds na po siya lalaban," Jimenez added.
Joven has been the coach and manager of Jerwin for almost 14 years, a partnership that continues to go strong.
With his championship pedigree, Ancajas is heavily favored to prevail over Wilner Soto, a Columbian journeyman who sports a 22-12 record with only five KOs compared to Jerwin's imposing 33-3-2 slate with 22 stoppages.
"Sundin palagi ang game plan and huwag mag kompiyansa," Jimenez told Jerwin on the eve of his bout.
And the expectation is that everything goes according to plan.
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