The pact between General Santos promotional outfit Sanman Promotions, Apolinario’s main promoter, and Ohashi Promotions will open more opportunities for 24-year-old flyweight prospects, especially in Japan.
“Japan is a very lucrative venue for boxers like me who want to make it big. It will be a great privilege to work with Ohashi Promotions hand-in-hand with my Sanman Team. I want to get the regular (world title) belts. I will show my hunger in my debut fight in August,” Apolinario said.
Apolinario, the current International Boxing Organization (IBO) flyweight champion, is scheduled to fight in August in Japan against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.
Apolinario is one of the top young prospects from the Philippines. He’s currently ranked highly in all four major boxing sanctioning bodies — No. 2 by the World Boxing Association (WBA), No. 5 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), No. 12 by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and No. 14 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
Apolinario made a name for himself after scoring an impressive first round knockout of experienced Gideon Buthalezi to win the IBO flyweight belt in South Africa. Apolinario is 18-0 with 13 knockouts.
Ohashi Promotions is best known for guiding the careers of the world champion brothers Naoya Inoue and Takuma Inoue. It also is the promoter of three-division world champion Akira Yaegashi and former lineal super flyweight champion Katsushige Kawashima.
Some of the prominent fighters under its guidance are world-ranked Andy Hiaoka, Taku Kuwahara, Yuki Takei, Satoshi Shimizu and Katsuki Mori. (EKA)