Andales guns for WBC crown

Ar-Ar Andales is heading into the lion's den this 31 March in Japan.

The obscure Filipino fighter will be making an ambitious bid to win a world title when he battles defending champion Ginjiro Shigeoka for the International Boxing Federation minimumweight crown at the International Conference Hall in Nagoya.

Holding a 14-2-3 win-loss-draw card with six knockouts, Andales will likewise be bidding to become the country' world champion on the same night a compatriot, ex-world champion Melvin Jerusalem shoots for the World Boxing Council minimumweight crown of Yudai Shigeoka, the older brother of Ginjiro.

Ginjiro has a 10-0-1 win-loss-no contest mark with eight knockouts. Andales will be his fifth Filipino foe after he had knocked out three of the previous four.

A native of Northern Samar, Andales is 24 years old and is known for being the only fighter to beat current knockout sensation Miel Fajardo, the reigning Orient-Pacific Boxing Federation champion.

Andales and Jerusalem have been tasked to put an end to the Philippines' string of misfortunes in world title fights.

Last month, Jerwin Ancajas failed in his bid to win the World Boxing Association bantam belt when he got knocked out by Takuma Inoue at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena in Tokyo.

Barely a week before 2023 ended, Marlon Tapales was stopped by Naoya Inoue in their clash for the undisputed world super-bantam titles.