Jonas Sultan, the current toast of Philippine boxing, believes he has what it takes to bring down the top bantamweight in the world.
“I have full confidence in myself,” Sultan said during the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum yesterday.
Appearing in the weekly session while doing quarantine, Sultan swears Japanese champion Naoya Inoue, acknowledged as the best 118-pounder in the world, is not invincible.
“He is strong but I can come up with a gameplan needed to beat him,” said Sultan, who is fresh from inflicting Puerto Rican knockout artist Carlos Caraballo his first loss in their New York slugfest last 30 October.
Sultan, 29, arrived in Manila late Monday night from Los Angeles accompanied by his chief handler Junnie Navarro, who owns Zamboanga Valientes.
But his trip back home won’t last very long as he is expected to show up in training in America within the month.
“I will be here for about two weeks so I can spend time with my family,” said Sultan, who is also being backed by shipping tycoon and congressman Mikee Romero.
Sean Gibbons, who represents him, targets a ring return in February or March 2022 although that would depend on the outcome of the fights involving the current world champions next month.
Inoue is fighting on 14 December in Japan while John Riel Casimero is also seeing action in Dubai on 11 December and Nonito Donaire also enters the ring a few hours after Casimero in Carson, California.
“I want to prove that I can (win a world title),” added Sultan, who sports an 18-5 record with 11 knockouts.
