By Adrian Stewart Co

Negrense boxer Robert “Toto” Landero will vie for the World Boxing Council (WBC) International light flyweight belt against Indonesian Tibo Monabesa on Saturday, April 10, at the Balai Sarbini Convention Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This will be the first title match of the Pontevedra, Negros Occidental-native Landero since suffering losses when he attempted for the IBO and WBA world minimumweight titles in 2018.

This will also be the Negrense boxer’s first time to step in the ring since scoring a unanimous decision victory over fellow Filipino Joel Lino in September 2019 in Taguig City.

Landero said that he was thankful that his match against Monabesa still pushes through after it was postponed a week ago as he and his coach Jun Arlos were not allowed to fly out of the country due to visa issues.

“I am happy at tuloy pa din ang fight ko,” Landero said. “Hindi kami nakalipad last week dahil hinanapan kami ng Indonesian visa sa Immigration dahil COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic daw.”

“I am ready for this fight naman. Tuloy pa din naman ‘yung naging training ko kahit medyo nadelay ‘yun laban ko. Since nasa lugar ng kalaban ‘yun fight, I will try to go for knockout,” he added.

Monabesa is not a pushover of an opponent for Landero as he was a former IBO world light flyweight champion after beating Australian fighter Omari Kimweri in July 2019 in Indonesia.

Monabesa also has a winning record against Filipino boxers as he previously defeated Lito Dante, Lester Abutan, Geboi Mansalayao, Rene Patilano, and Joel Taduran and had a draw with Arnold Garde.

The 25-year-old Landero, a fighter from the stable of Dante Almario, will enter the match with an 11-4-2 win-loss-draw ring record, including two victories by way of stoppages.

Monabesa, on the other hand, has an impressive record out of 23 matches, where 20 of which were victories (including eight by way of stoppages), two deadlocks and just one defeat./ASC, WDJ