PHILIPPINE light flyweight champion Jerson “Smooth Operator” Mancio arrived in Tokyo, Japan yesterday as he gets ready to face Japanese Naoya Inoue for the vacant Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) light flyweight this Friday.
He was accompanied by ALA Boxing Gym trainer Edmund Villamor and Franklin Albia.
According to Villamor, the 26-year old Mancio (18-3-3, 9KOs) is excited to fight Inoue since this is his first time fighting abroad.
Villamor said they will be doing light training until the official weigh-in tomorrow.
Mancio will be facing an unbeaten newbie in Inoue, who so far has four wins, three via knockouts.
Mancio, who is a regular protagonist in the ALA-Cobra Tunay Na Lakas fight cards, will try to follow the steps of OPBF flyweight champion Rocky “The Road Warrior” Fuentes, who has defeated rated Japanese boxers in his long campaign in Japan. /CORRESPONDENT DALE G. ROSAL