In a battle of unbeaten punchers, Filipino Lienard Sarcon meets Korean Jong Keon Kang in a scheduled 12-rounder for the World Boxing Association Asia featherweight crown tomorrow in Siheung City.
The southpaw Sarcon (9-0 with four knockouts) will be fighting for the first time overseas and will have veteran tactician Nonoy Neri in the corner.
Neri used to be a part of Manny Pacquiao’s training team and he will lend his expertise in a bid to stun the expected highly-partisan crowd at the Tech University of Korea.
Kang (15-0-2 with eight knockouts), a right-hander, is aiming to add Sarcon as his second Filipino victim.
But Sarcon, nicknamed “Triggerman,” has vowed not to follow the script that Kang will bring on fight night.
Tomorrow’s showdown will ignite the storied Philippines vs Korea ring rivalry that intensified starting in the 1970s but slowed down during the 2000s when the sport’s popularity waned in Korea.
During its peak, Korea was the place where Filipino boxers were sent to compete.
Though Japan and Thailand were destinations as well, Korea was the go-to-place.
