By Thad Mangalino
With razor sharp skills and a strong will to win, the Light Flyweight Champion Randy “Razor” Petalcorin will make his debut fight in Australia on Friday, 8th of November, at the Malvern Town Hall against a Thai boxer Samransak Singmanansak.
I had a chance to sit down and chat with Randy in between training and gave me an insight on his view on the upcoming fight and his hunger to be at the top of his sport. Randy shared with me his parents disapproval when they found out he was boxing, in Tagalog Randy expressed “One time I had to jump out of the window and run to get to my bout, I returned home with a medal and trophy; I won the bout.” Later Randy added that the more medals and trophies he took home, he knew deep inside that boxing is something that he can be great at. Randy was exposed to the sport and spurred on by the other people in the neighbourhood, it became a part of his life. By the time Randy was 12 years of age, he fought his first amateur fight and turned professional by the time he was 18.
According to Randy, “It is harder in training; fighting in the ring is the easy part. It’s like playtime to me.” Randy loves the challenge and the opportunity to outbox the opponent and winning the title motivate him. Randy is grateful to boxing as it has enabled him to travel and experience new things; this is Randy’s first fight outside of the Philippines and his co-manager Peter Maniatis mentioned that this is just the beginning and the possibility is endless for Randy.
Having hailed from General Santos, Randy has had the opportunity to train with Manny Pacquiao. In fact, Randy was training with Team Pacquiao in Baguio when Pacquiao was training for the Shane Mosley fight. Randy’s aspiration is to include more championship belts in his collection and continue to be the best boxer he can be and have fun in the ring at the same time.
Randy is one of the main cards for the Ultra Tune Cup. I urge you our Philippine Times readers, fellow kababayans and boxing fans to come to the Malvern Town Hall on the 8th of November and support our champion Randy Petalcorin. Tickets are still available through www.boxingtickets.net.au or www.petermaniatis.com
