Lorenzo 'Chao' Sy, a prominent boxing promoter from Cebu, is actively seeking to bring a world title fight to Cebu City. His ambition follows the recent press conference and weigh-in for 'Fist of Fury 10', held at the Cebu Coliseum.
The event will showcase an International Boxing Federation (IBF) world minimumweight title eliminator between Filipino Ian Paul Abne and China's DianXing Zhu. The winner will earn the right to challenge reigning IBF champion Pedro Taduran.
Sy expressed his hopes for a future championship matchup, stating that this event could be the precursor to a world title fight in Cebu. He made his intentions clear to Ben Keilty, the IBF Ratings Chairman, during the press conference.
This is just the starting match. Perhaps, next time, we will bring a world championship match to Cebu.
Lorenzo 'Chao' Sy
Keilty confirmed that the winner of the Abne-Zhu matchup would be mandated to challenge Taduran. The Filipino champion is expected to decide soon whether he will defend his title or pursue a unification bout against WBO champion Oscar Collazo.
The possibility of a world title fight in Cebu is gaining traction, especially after Taduran and his manager, Cucuy Elorde, attended the eliminator bout upon Sy's invitation. If realized, this would mark Cebu's first world championship fight since 2017.