Body punching rather than the usual and tried-and-tested head-hunting ploy will be the plan of attack of Marlon Tapales, the Filipino challenger who attempts to win the World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight crown next week in Thailand.
?Sa katawan,? Tapales said yesterday afternoon, just moments before he took off his street clothes for what could be his final workout on local soil.
Tapales is facing defending champion Pungluang Sor Singyu on July 27 in Ayutthaya and he and his team, led by chief handler Wakee Salud, are scheduled to fly to Bangkok tonight.
Tapales, the mandatory challenger to the WBO 118-lb throne, has sparred more than 100 rounds for his first crack at a world title.
?Kakayanin nating manalo,? said Tapales, originally from Lanao del Norte but now based in Cebu City. ADVERTISING inRead invented by Teads
Videos of Sor Singyu?s fights have been provided by Salud for Tapales and his trainers to review and everyone liked what they saw.
?Body punching,? said Salud, former manager of ex-world champions Dodie Boy and Gerry Pe?alosa and Malcolm Tunacao.
Tapales had actually seen Sor Singyu fight live, recalling the time when Sor Singyu knocked out an exhausted AJ Banal at the Mall of Asia Arena four years ago.
But Tapales isn?t overly impressed, noting that the Thai titlist has a chink in his armor.
?Marupok sa katawan,? said Tapales, noting how Sor Singyu got knocked out by Japanese Tomoki Kameda with a body blow in 2014.
