MALCOLM “Eagle Eye” Tu?acao will try to get over the sting of a controversial draw in his last fight when he puts his belt anew to another Japanese challenger, Yasuo Kijima, on May 6 in Tokyo, Japan.
Tu?acao’s defense of his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight title will be in the undercard of the World Boxing Council (WBC) minimum-weight championship between Japan-based Thai champion Eagle Kyowa and No.1 contender Rodel “Magnum Force” Mayol.
Incidentally, Kijima is a stablemate of Kyowa, while Tu?acao and Mayol have the same manager, Yasuo Matsouka.
Tu?acao, the WBC No.5 bantamweight contender, felt insulted with the result of his first title defense against Japanese Kohei Ohba last Feb. 5 in Nagoya. The fight ended in a split draw, partly because the fight’s Cebuano judge, Teddy Alivio, scored the bout an even 114-114.
“I have learned my lessons. I will go for a knockout no matter what it takes,” said Tu?acao, the former WBC flyweight champion who hails from Cambaro, Mandaue City. “It was my second draw in Japan and on both occasions, I was winning.”
Tu?acao made his first appearance in Japan in August 2000 to defend his WBC flyweight title against Celes Kobayashi, which ended in a split draw.
“My next opponent seems to be a typical Japanese fighter. His knockout rate is not high but I heard from my manager that he has fast hands. I need to work on our game plan to ensure that I will win this fight convincingly,” said Tu?acao.
Kijima holds a 19-8-2 win-loss-draw record with five KOs, while Tu?acao is 19-1-3 with 13 KO wins.
