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    COLUMN: Jonas Sultan out to defy great odds in Big Apple

    Filipino underdog hopes New York is where his dream comes true
    Oct 29, 2021
    RR Pogoy presided over TNT's title-clinching win in Game 5.
    spin zone

    NEW YORK - When Jonas Sultan slips into the ring at the Hulu theater inside the famed Madison Square Garden this Sunday, he will assume a familiar role.

    A heavy underdog.

    His opponent, Carlos Caraballo from talent-rich Puerto Rico, is an unbeaten prospect with 14 wins, all by knockout.

    Besides that imposing record, Caraballo also has home turf advantage here in New York, where a thick Puerto Rican population resides.

    Per multiple sportsbooks, Sultan is plus a $425 underdog, which means a $100 wager on him wins $425 while a $600 bet on the heavily favored Caraballo collects a mere $100.

    Those numbers, however, do not surprise nor faze the 29-year old Filipino from Cebu City by way of Tampilisan, Zamboanga Del Norte.

    Battling the odds had pretty much summed up the story of his pro boxing life.

    Overlooked. Underappreciated. And always doubted.

    Jonas Sultan and party ahead of his fight against Caraballo.

    With the Big Apple as the backdrop, and the iconic Garden as the stage, Sultan might just defy the odds yet again as he attempts to earn a title shot in the crowded bantamweight division.

    "He looks really good," trainer Joven Jimenez, who oversaw Sultan's camp in Los Angeles where Jerwin Ancajas lent his skills as sparring partner, told me after the press conference of the Top Rank card,

    Making weight for tomorrow's weigh-in will be a breeze for Sultan, who is in peak form following a rigid strength and conditioning program, the same regimen that helped him dispose of Sharone Carter via 7th round KO last August 14 in California.

    BESIDES CARABALLO'S EDGE IN KNOCKOUT VICTORIES, THE PARTICULARS ARE EVENLY-MATCHED.

    Caraballo is an inch taller at 5-foot-5 but Sultan, who is four years older at age 29, enjoys a 2-inch advantage in reach.

    On paper, the Puerto Rican from the coastal city of Ponce, has the advantage in power but Sultan is richer in experience having fought eight more times including a scrum against John Riel Casimero and a failed title challenge against Ancajas.

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    Sultan (17-5-0) had never been knocked out in his career. He can take a punch, is patient and resilient under fire. He will need a lot of those qualities against a young lion out to impress and is expected to come out with both hands blazing.

    Caraballo, meanwhile, hasn't fought past four rounds. And if Sultan can weather what is expected to be an early storm and drag the bout into the deeper rounds, there could be an opportunity to exploit Caraballo's inexperience and test his stamina.

    "Jonas is well-prepared. He's ready to go," a confident Junnie Navarro, Sultan's co-manager alongside Mike Valenzuela of the famed Zamboanga Valientes MLV, told SPIN.ph.

    In a journey that has seen its share of ups and downs, this bout isn't exactly a make-or-break for Sultan, but if he prevails, a Caraballo victory will open many doors.

    As Frank Sinatra said, if you can make it in New York, "you're gonna make it anywhere."

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    A BITE AT THE BIG APPLE. The Uber driver who took me from Newark-Liberty international airport in New Jersey to midtown Manhattan was quite a double-tasker.

    The delightful 32-year old man from Bangladesh wasn't just on the phone while navigating freeways at 60 miles an hour. He was face-timing his pregnant wife.

    It was, needless to say, a 17-mile roller coaster ride on the four wheels of a Toyota Camry.

    Only in New York.

    The hotel I'm staying at is a mere 350 feet across the Madison Square Garden. Too bad the Knicks were on the road or I could have sought media credentials to see their loaded roster play while perhaps catching up with D-Rose after the game.

    After gurgling a pint of overpriced rum, I went down for a night stroll and wolfed down a $2 hotdog at a food truck along 7th Avenue.

    Not the best dinner, but everything somehow tastes good in the "greatest" city in the world.

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    RR Pogoy presided over TNT's title-clinching win in Game 5.
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