Daeloniel (right) strikes a pose with Gulbudin (left) and Saba exco member Jamal Shaikh.
KUCHING (Feb 13): Asian Boxing Championship super bantamweight champion Daeloniel Mcdelon Bong is eyeing a ticket to the World Boxing Championship Asia, which will be held in April.
He will be fighting for another star rating on Feb 17 in the Path To Glory Hustle In Dhaka Square at Kemal Ataturk Park, Bangladesh against local challenger Resatu Mahmud Sajin in a six-round featherweight (57.2kg) bout.
“God willing, l can do my best to win and gain another star rating to qualify for the WBC Asia. I have already earned two stars and this fight is very important to me because l need a three-star rating. I need to win this fight.
“To me, the fight may seem neither easy or difficult but l will try my very best to win,” he told The Borneo Post when met at the Kuching International Airport today.
Daeloniel, affectionately known as ‘Kilat Boy’, flew to Kuala Lumpur today and will travel to Dhaka tomorrow.
“I am very confident that l can do well because l have prepared well with about two months of training. Right now, my confidence is around than 80 per cent,” he declared.
The 25-year-old Sri Aman native also plans to fight in a competition in Singapore in April to gain more star rating and ranking points.
Last November, Daeloniel won his Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) belt in Bangkok, Thailand and in 2022 he won the Pakistan Professional Boxing Championship.
To date, he has fought in nine professional bouts and holds a record of six wins and three defeats.
Team manager Gulbudin Rahman, who is accompanying Daeloniel, expressed confidence that he can achieve his target in Dhaka given his preparation both physically and mentally.
“Although we do not know much about the Bangladesh boxer, our ‘Kilat Boy’ is more experienced than Resatul who is ‘Hero of Dhaka’ and is more than ready for the all-important bout,” Gulbudin said.
Sarawak Amateur Boxing Association (Saba) president Datuk Rahman Lariwoo also believes Daeloniel can spring a surprise in Dhaka.
“I am fully confident that our ‘Kilat Boy’ is capable of winning the fight against his opponent on Feb 17.
“Saba is proud and honoured to have produced a boxer of international standard such as Daeloniel and l hope that through our continuous boxing development programme, more young boxers can follow in his footsteps to earn honour and glory for Sarawak and Malaysia,” he said.