ALA pug Domingo ready for Francisco

Michael “Bruce Lee” Domingo of the ALA Gym is in the final stages of his preparation for his highly anticipated all-Pinoy showdown against former WBA interim superflyweight titlist Drian “Gintong Kamao” Francisco on Sept. 23 at the Makati City Coliseum.

This is a “fork in the road’” fight for the careers of both ring gladiators.

Domingo (41W-15L-2D, 19 KOs), who hails from Sultan Kudarat, transformed from a journeyman to a legitimate world-ranked contender when he scored wins against Jose Navarro of the U.S. and Luis Melendez of Colombia. But he lost his chance to be in the title picture last year when he bowed to Vusi Malinga in South Africa in an IBF bantamweight title eliminator. Domingo has since bounced back with a win last July against Indonesian Richard Samosir.

Francisco (20W-1L, 16 KOs), who is based in Agoncillo, Batangas, was hailed as the next big Filipino boxing star after beating Panamanian boxers Roberto Vasquez and Ricardo Nunez. He won the interim title last year with a 10th round TKO win against Duangpetch Kokietgym of Thailand. But, he was upset in Thailand last May and lost his title to Tepparith Singwangcha.

This will mark Francisco’s first bout since that loss.

“This will be a tough fight,” ALA Gym trainer Edito Villamor said. “Drian is a former interim world champion, but we will go for an upset.”

But Domingo told CDN last Tuesday that it doesn’t really matter if the fans and sportswriters consider him an underdog or a favorite. “What is important is that I am very well prepared for this fight. It doesn’t matter who is the underdog or the favorite.”

“I am happy that I was given the chance to fight someone like Francisco,” Domingo said. “If I win, I will go up the world rankings again.”