Sabalde faces Wang for ABC belt

Anthony Sabalde will gun for the World Boxing Council (WBC) Asian Boxing Council (ABC) lightweight crown against Chinese Zhimin Wang on Dec. 10 in China.

After losing his previous three attempts at regional titles, the 25-year-old Sabalde will make sure that it won’t slip through his fingers this time around.

“We are looking for a knockout to get a sure win because if it goes the decision I believe that we’ll have a hard time getting the win,” Brix Flores, Sabalde’s coach at the Rex Wakee Salud Gym, told SunStar Cebu.

Sabalde’s three defeats in regional title fights were all by unanimous decision. He lost to Jessie Cris Rosales for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific Youth featherweight belt in 2014, John Vincent Moralde for the World Boxing Federation (WBF) International featherweight belt last year and recently against Japanese Nihito Arakawa last January.

“He won the early rounds but he lost steam. Now his conditioning is good,” said Flores of Sabalde’s latest fight in Japan.

Sabalde has been sparring with the likes of Adones Aguelo, Ardie Boyose and Neil John Tabanao.

Sabalde has now added wicked body shot that he’ll use against Wang.

“We have been working on his body shot,” said Flores. /