TWENTY months is such a long time for any fighter to be idle.
But One Strawweight World Champion Joshua Pacio says he is in top shape, ready for the trilogy devider archrival Yosuke Saruta in One: Revolution in Singapore.
The Team Lakay star steps back inside the Circle on Friday, hoping to prove that he's still the man to beat in the strawweight division.
"Super excited ako for this one. Gusto kong ipakita natin na walang ring rust kasi kahit na galing ako sa long layoff, nararamdaman natin yung pakiramdam ng lumalaban ng five rounds sa loob ng gym," he said.
Pacio, who last fought in January last year in a successful title defense against Alex Silva, has made the most of his time off, honing his craft inside the Team Lakay Central Gym in Benguet as he waited for that call.
Joshua Pacio
Now that he's set to mark his comeback, the 25-year-old Pacio is just as pumped as ever as he aims to show the gains he's had for the duration of the pandemic.
"Ramdam ko bawat training namin yung intensity. I don't feel any pressure kasi I've been doing this for a long time at parang naging kaibigan na din natin ang pressure," he said.
Pacio is looking to put a definitive end to this chapter against Saruta, a fight he has long looked forward to as he seeks to put all the talks behind him and move forward to the next challenges in his still young career.
"My focus is on getting the win and executing what our gameplan is," he said. "Who wants it more na lang dito. But I want to show that I'm here to stay at hindi masasayang lahat ng sacrifices ko at ng coaches and teammates ko."
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