JAPAN-based Cebuano Malcolm Tu?acao is one fight closer to another world title shot.
At 34, Tu?acao hopes to have one more run at a world championship as he faces Mexican Christian Esquivel in a World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight title eliminator on Dec. 22 at the Central Gym in Kobe, Japan.
Tunacao, who won his last 10 fights, hasn?t fought in a world title fight for 11 years since losing his WBC flyweight crown to Thai legend Pongsaklek Wonjongkam via a first-round technical knockout in 2001.
Tunacao is rated No. 2 by the WBC, while Esquivel is rated No. 4. The winner of the title eliminator will become the mandatory challenger of unbeaten WBC bantamweight titlist Shinsuke Yamanaka.
Tunacao, 31-2-3 with 19 knockouts, should have the experience advantage over the 26-year-old Esquivel. The Mandaue City native has faced the likes of Wonjongkam and Medgoen Singsurat, who owns a win over Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.
Esquivel, 25-3 with 18 knockouts, fought for the vacant WBC bantamweight crown last year but he lost to Yamanaka by an 11th round stoppage in Japan.
