By Adrian Stewart Co
After being postponed twice, Negrense boxer Robert “Toto” Landero will finally have a chance to fight Indonesian Tibo Monabesa for the WBC International light flyweight belt today at the Balai Sarbini Convention Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The match was supposed to happen last Saturday evening but the promoters opted to postpone it with Pontevedra, Negros Occidental-native Landero and his coach Jun Arlos still under quarantine by that time.
“Minove nila ‘yung laban namin na dapat noong Sabado sa April 14 since naka-quarantine pa kami sa hotel by that time,” Arlos said in an interview with Philboxing.com.
According to Arlos, Landero wanted to weigh-in for the match last Friday but was prevented as they are still under mandatory five-day quarantine after arriving in Jakarta last Wednesday.
Landero, for his part, is just thankful that the match will still push through after being put in jeopardy two weeks ago as he was prevented by the Immigration to fly to Jakarta due to lack of visa.
“Sa akin, masaya lang ako na kahit papaano ay matutuloy pa din ang laban ko,” Landero said. “I am ready to fight na sana noong Sabado but strict sila sa quarantine rules nila dito sa Indonesia.”
Landero’s upcoming match against Monabesa will be his first title bout since since suffering losses when he attempted for the IBO and WBA world minimumweight titles in 2018.
Monabesa, on the other hand, will bring along with him his impressive record against Filipino fighters following his previous wins against Lito Dante, Lester Abutan, Geboi Mansalayao, Rene Patilano and Joel Taduran.
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