A huge night for sports fans is coming up in Manila on 9th May, where the Vietnam team venture to the boxing capital of the Philippines to do battle with locals boasting incredible win records.
The 10 strong Vietnam squad looks really formidable, and showcases three new inclusions – Ta Van Thi, Nguyen Manh Cuong, and Bui Trong Thai.
The event will definitely hold special interest for Vietnam, with the appearance of young Olympian Nguyen Van Duong. This super talent is one of the most touted potential pros in Asia, where tales of his deeds in knocking out sparring partners are legendary.
The VSP boxing prodigy made headlines recently when he became Vietnam’s first boxing Olympian since 1988, after stopping both his opponents in Jordan to qualify for Tokyo.
The Manila event sees the Hanoi hitman matched ip with the hard hitting Filipino Ariel Puton, a speed freak who won his first 5 fights by stoppage.
Victory 8 have deliberately set the bar high for NVD, and the bout will be a significant test for the deadly Vietnam star, who is making his pro debut.
Vietnam’s most successful female amateur will also be making her pro debut, and the rumours are very strong, that fans will be getting a good look at a future world champion in Miss Nguyen Thi Tam. Tam is a former world youth and European champion in the amateur format.
The Victory 8 Manila show is spearheaded by two supercharged WBC title fights, the likes of which Asian fight fans rarely, if ever, get to see.
Vietnam legend Nguyen Van Hai takes on the outstanding Australian Francis Chua for the Australasian title – a fight that opens up world ranking opportunities to both fighters.
Nguyen Van Hai is a multiple national champion and SEA games medallist, and is regarded as his country’s best all around fighter. He ventures to Manila with a 3-0 record.
Francis Chua is an indomitable southpaw, a winner of 7 of his 8 bouts. Chua’s lone loss was a controversial one, a points verdict at the hands of WBO #2 Kye MacKenzie.
Francis Chua has made no secret of his desire to fight in big events such as this on a world stage. His biggest win to date was as undercard to Jeff Horn in Brisbane, a show that drew 40,000 people.
Charly Suarez, a freak talent that is well known to both Philippines and Vietnam fans, tackles Indonesian strongman Defry Palulu for the WBC Asia title.
Suarez was the Philippine’s most decorated amateur boxer, winning multiple national and international titles, including the recent SEA Games in 2019.
The King’s Warrior has now turned his energies to professional boxing, and has been on an express train knocking out his four opponents to date in devastating fashion.
Indonesia’s Palulu is the defending champion, and owns an ominous record of 22 wins from 24 fights, and will prove a great test of where the talented Suarez sits currently in world calculations.
The event will be covered live by Solar Sports in the Philippines, HTV in Vietnam, and likely to be available internationally on various streaming services yet to be announced.
This Victory 8 will create huge interest based on the stacked card of popular fighters, and is expected to be watched by more than 10 million people. Expect news and updates in the coming weeks.
