The camp of reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight title holder Pedro Taduran is not leaving any stone unturned in its quest to repulse the bid of Chinese knockout artist Zhu Dianxing on 23 November in Jeju, Korea.
“I would recommend that we get there at least a week before the fight,” Carl Penalosa Jr., trainer of Taduran, told DAILY TRIBUNE recently.
Manila doesn’t have a direct flight to Jeju and a stopover is needed to get there, making air travel a bit difficult despite its proximity with each other.
The fastest route is via Incheon but the total travel time — including layover — would still be around eight hours.
The weather is also being taken into account since Jeju, though located south of the Korean mainland, also gets cold in late fall with the temperature ranging from 8 degrees (night) and 16 degrees (daytime) Celsius.
Taduran, meanwhile, is immersed in training at the Elorde Sports Center and he just kicked off his eight-week buildup for the first defense of the IBF 105-lb title he had won last July in Japan.
As for Zhu, he is likewise neck-deep in his preparations in Shenzhen for his first crack at a world title.
Cocky Buffalo, headed by Korean Sang Bum Kim, is the lead promoter of the scheduled 12-rounder at the Maison Glad Jeju with the Vietnam-based VSP Promotions providing solid backup alongside Elorde siblings Marty and Cucuy and Sean Gibbons’ MP Promotions.
Zhu, ranked No. 3 by the IBF, parades a 14-1-0 win-loss-draw with 12 knockouts while Taduran sports a 17-4-1 ledger with 13 knockouts.