Beware, beware

The camp of little-known challenger Christian Balunan knows what their fighter is up against on 26 October.

Balunan is challenging defending champion Pedro Taduran for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight title at the San Andres Coliseum in Malate.

Two-time world title challenger Edito Villamor, who trains Balunan, admits his boxer is the clear underdog.

“Taduran is a very good champion. He’s a pressure fighter and very experienced,” Villamor said from their training base in Tagbilaran, Bohol.

Representing PMI Boxing, Balunan is 25 years old, three years younger than the southpaw Taduran, and holds an undefeated win-loss-draw record of 12-0-0 with seven knockouts.

While Villamor swears by Taduran’s obvious advantages, Balunan is not the type to be pushed around.

“He is young, motivated and hungry for a world title,” Villamor said of his fellow Cebuano.

If there’s one thing that should work in favor of the 5-6 Balunan, it is his three-inch height advantage, something Villamor believes will play a pivotal role in the scheduled 12-rounder.

“I believe that our chances of winning is high because Balunan comes to fight and he has power,” Villamor added.

Taduran, parading an 18-4-1 mark with 13 knockouts, is coming off a brutal decision win over Ginjiro Shigeoka in Osaka in a fight that sent the Japanese into a coma.

Shigeoka underwent an operation immediately after the fight and is now undergoing intensive rehabilitation in his native Kumamoto.

If victorious, Taduran will likely pursue a unification showdown with Oscar Collazo of Puerto Rico, who just recently stopped Jayson Vayson in the seventh round in Indio, California.

But if Balunan scores an upset, he might end up getting that massive break to vie for Collazo’s World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association and even The Ring magazine straps.