THE long flight from Mexico seemed to have affected Mexican Raul ?El Bule? Hidalgo, who stepped onto the weighing scale one pound over the limit during the official weigh-in held at SM City Event Center yesterday.
However, in less than an hour, the challenger shed the excess baggage and stepped back on the scales at the 118-lb. limit, matching AJ ?Bazooka? Banal?s weight. Banal made the limit in in his first try.
Banal (26-1, 19Kos) will put his WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight title on the line against Hidalgo (16-5, 12Kos) in a 12-round boxing spectacle at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.
WBO Asia Pacific/Oriental/Africa Zone chairman Leon Panoncillo Jr. supervised the Banal-Hidalgo weigh-in, while GAB-Cebu supervisors Glen Agena and Rolando Mendoza supervised the weigh-ins for the undercards.
But while the long hours in airports and changing planes had minor effects on Hidalgo, it hit his stablemate Javier Franco harder, as the young Mexican hopeful weighed two and one-half pounds over the limit.
Franco, who is scheduled to fight OPBF champion Rocky ?Road Warrior? Fuentes, in a non-title 10-round bout, weighed in at 116.5 pounds and was asked to shed at least a pound to avoid a penalty.
But after an hour, he still wasn?t able to take off the excess weight and as a consequence, he will be wearing 10-ounce gloves tonight. Fuentes, who is a natural flyweight, weighed half a pound under the 114-pound bout.
Meanwhile, ?Prince? Albert Pagara and his Thai opponent Phupha Por Nobnum weighed in at 116 pounds for their eight-round bout; Arthur ?El Matador? Villanueva and Rey Migreno also made the 118-pound limit for their eight-round non-title bout.
