Despite the scrimmage of the big purse (US$ 75,000) promised by promoter Albert Papilaya that only became an empty promise, IBF minimumweight champion Muhammad Rachman confessed to this correspondent that he has kept focus on the scheduled fight. “I received good backup from the government of Blitar City (Rachman’s hometown). They give me good support for training facilities, said Rachman. Additionally, this afternoon the Army invited Rachman to stage an open sparring session with several local boxers. Last week, one of Rachman’s sparring partners, Boy Suga, was hospitalized after suffering a knock out after receiving a right hook on the jaw. “But Suga is now OK, no serious injury, and he has left the hospital,” explained Martinez dos Santos, Rachman’s manager. This explanation removes the rumors in Indonesia that Rachman was lacking in preparation due to the unclear payment promised by Papilaya.
——————————————————————————– Rachman, born on December 23, 1971, obtained the world record holder as the oldest boxer in history to win the strawweight title in 2004 (32 years, 8 months, 22 days), breaking Samuth Sithnaruepol’s record (28 years 10 months 7 days) and maintaining it until today, then now he still holds the record as oldest minimumweight title holder at least until July 7, 2007 during his fight against Filipino Florante Condes in Jakarta, Rachman will become 35 years, 6 months, 14 days, breaking the old record on behalf of the legendary Ricardo Lopez who was 33 years, 2 months, 7 days when he seized the IBF light flyweight title and vacated his long time strawweight WBA title. ——————————————————————————– The fight will be handled by NJ referee Wayne Hedgepath as the third man in the ring, assisted by judges Salven Lagumbay (Phillipines), Montol Suriyachand (Thailand) and Muhammad Rois (Indonesia). The classic card Muhammad “The Rock Breaker” Rachman (61-5-5, 31 KO’s) vs Florante “The Little Pacquiao” Condes (21-3-1, 20 KO’s) is expected to be a true classic war between two big punchers and KO artists on 7/7/07 at the Indoor Tennis Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia.
