Banal’s foe to arrive early for PPXVII tiff

WBO world No. 2 contender Pungluang Sorsingyu and his team from Thailand are scheduled to arrive on Oct. 16 for his world championship bout against WBO No. 1 bantamweight AJ “Bazooka” Banal of the Philippines in the main event of Pinoy Pride XVII: Philippines vs the World at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Sorsingyu’s team composed of Onesongchai representative Michel Du and coaches Phanlop Sriphraiwan, Mueankhit Saensuk and Anirut Chuebang are expected to arrive in Manila at 2:10 p.m. via Philippine Airlines flight PR 753.

Sorsingyu and Banal will battle for the WBO World Bantamweight title vacated by Jorge Arce of Mexico who moved up to the super bantamweight class.

Last month, it was reported that Sorsingyu has been undergoing intense training at an army camp in Thailand and seems to be very confident going into this title fight with the higher ranked Banal.

Banal has likewise been training non-stop at the ALA Gym under siblings Edmund and Edito Villamor as well as a team of other coaches handling his nutrition, strength and conditioning among others.

Aside from the Banal-Sorsingyu mainer, two other title fights will involve the ring return of the charismatic Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista of the Philippines against Mexican Daniel Ruiz for the WBO International featherweight title and the exciting WBO International light welterweight championship between Jason “El Nino” Pagara of the Philippines vs. the undefeated Miguel Antoine of Barbados.

This boxing super-card will feature 6 different nationalities against top Filipino pugilists. Countries represented will be Thailand, Mexico, Barbados, Africa, Indonesia and Japan.

Pinoy Pride XVII: Phiippines vs the World tickets are available at SM Super Malls Customer Care Counters and SM Cinemas. /PR