Miel Fajardo’s road to becoming mandatory challenger was littered with landmines.
The Filipino knockout artist, fresh from crushing hometown hero Tobias Reyes in just 65 seconds in their International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight title eliminator in Galvez, Argentina, encountered a myriad of problems prior to the fight.
First, he and his team had to wait at the last minute before receiving their Argentine visas that his handlers were about to inform promoters that they were no longer fighting.
Getting the visas approved was one thing and getting to Galvez, a city in the Santa Fe region, was another, according to Anthony Arieta, who was assigned by American dealmaker Sean Gibbons to assist them.
Team Fajardo, composed of chief trainer Jericho Asilo and assistant Ericxon Asilo, departed Manila via Emirates on 5 April.
After a Dubai stopover, they took a flight bound for Sao Paolo in Brazil where they were catching another flight to Rosario in Argentina.
From Rosario, they took a two-hour land trip to Galvez.
“The entire journey lasted 38 hours,” said Arieta, adding that another key member of the team, Lennon Tsoi of RCT Hong Kong, flew in there as well using personal money.
While the hotel they stayed at was pretty decent, Fajardo and his team were not given money to cover their meals and instead subsisted on sandwiches for sustenance during their stay.
And during fight night, Team Fajardo was assigned to a room that looked like a bodega (stock room), small enough that it limited their movement for pre-fight warmup.
Fajardo produced a total of four knockdowns before getting the opening-round win, his seventh overall and just the fourth fastest of his career.
Reyes offered no excuses after getting blown away.
“I have not much to say but that was the first time I got hit that hard,” he said through a translator.
Gibbons could not help but rave about his talent’s incredible showing on hostile ground.
“I am still on cloud nine,” Gibbons told DAILY TRIBUNE from his Las Vegas home.
“The odds were against them but he managed to pull it off.”
The sensational win earned Fajardo a shot at the IBF 112-pound strap of Masamichi Yabuki of Japan.
If Yabuki retains the title when he defends it on 6 June against Rene Calixto of Mexico, he will have to face Fajardo before year ends.
“That’s a fight that is winnable for Miel,” added Gibbons, whose know-how, influence and connections enabled Fajardo to fight a title eliminator just less than a year after the American took him under his wings.
Yabuki, who sports a 19-4-0 win-loss-draw record with 18 knockouts, is a monster in the ring but is capable of getting stopped given Fajardo’s tremendous power and the champion’s questionable chin.
“Yabuki has lost by knockout and if Miel catches him, I am sure he gets knocked out again,” added Gibbons.
Also a part of Team Fajardo is Cucuy Elorde, who serves as the fighter’s adviser.
With Gibbons working side by side with Elorde and Tsoi, the future looks bright for Fajardo.