For Filipino fighter Mark Vicelles, family comes first.

And this is the reason why he decided last year to just quit boxing and get a job — any job — in Japan.

For a while, Vicelles became a boxing trainer at the Suruga Danji Boxing Gym in Shizuoka, Japan.

That job title was short-lived.

“My manager at the gym thought I could still fight and he proved to be right,” Vicelles, 30, told DAILY TRIBUNE on Sunday, his day-off.

In fact, Vicelles just didn’t prove that he could still do it.

He even got up the world ratings that on 26 September, he would be gunning for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-flyweight crown of Thanongsak Simsri, a Japan-based Thai puncher.

His Japanese handlers — gym owner Masaaki Maejima and Hayashi Hidenori — are even joining hands in staging the title fight at the Fujisanmesse, on the foot of Mount Fuji.

“I really appreciate what they are doing to my career,” said Vicelles, a native of Ledak in Sultan Kudarat.

Above it all, Vicelles is pushing himself to the limit simply because he wants to give his family a better life.

“I am doing this for my father,” said Vicelles, stressing that his mother is no longer around.

“I want a bright future for them.”

That can only be possible if he defeats the 26-year-old Simsri, who enters the ring with a 40-1-0 win-loss-draw record with 35 knockouts.

“We all know how good he is but he is also human like me. He’s got two hands the same as me so we are doing everything in training camp to score an upset,” said Vicelles, who packs a 21-2-1 mark with 11 knockouts.

Drawing inspiration from one of his idols — four-division champion Nonito Donaire — Vicelles insists that he can get the job done.

“One time, I was with Donaire in training camp and I got inspired by his teachings. He told us that once we go up the ring, we are also fighting a human being with the same set of hands and that we are all the same.”

Coupled with his motivation to excel and love for his family, Vicelles appears to be somebody Simsri will have to take seriously.