Taduran has Balunan all figured out

Defending champion Pedro Taduran believes unbeaten challenger Christian Balunan will attempt to fight from a distance as they head into their International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight title showdown on 26 October at the San Andres Sports Complex in Malate, Manila.

After he and chief trainer Jonathan Penalosa held a viewing of Balunan’s fights, they both agreed that the Cebu-based Balunan will put to good use his two-and-a-half inch height advantage to mess up the 5-feet-4 Taduran in the scheduled 12-rounder.

“From what we have seen, it looks like he will be using his advantage in height,” Taduran told DAILY TRIBUNE after a light workout on Saturday at the Elorde Sports Center.

Of course, Taduran won’t allow that to happen.

“If he does that, we will do our best to move and get inside without compromising my safety. I don’t want to get caught while coming in so I have to be cautious,” said the Albay-born Taduran, who has an 18-4-1 win-loss-draw card with 13 knockouts.

Balunan, parading a 12-0-0 mark with seven knockouts, is the clear underdog.

But his training team, led by top tactician Edito “Ala” Villamor, swears they have a genuine chance of scoring an upset.

Sean Gibbons, the well-connected American dealmaker, is staging the fight alongside a bevy of quality undercard bouts.

Should Taduran retain the IBF 105-pound crown, Gibbons will move heaven and earth to facilitate a unification clash with Puerto Rican two-belt titleholder Oscar Collazo, who had expressed the desire to become the division’s undisputed champion next year.

Taduran maintains that he would love to face fellow southpaw Collazo but he is not allowing himself to get distracted by the proposed unification war.

“Right now, it is Balunan that I am focused on, not Collazo. I have to take care of business on 26 October first before thinking about the next,” he added.