FILIPINO import John Vincent Moralde replaces Egypt’s Mohammed Metualy for the World Boxing Association (WBA) Oceania featherweight title match against Australia’s Brayd Smith in Queensland on Saturday, March 14.
As edited by BAYANIHAN NEWS
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A contract dispute forced boxing promoter Brendon Smith to replace Metualy for the ‘Smithy Brings Big Fights 9’ promotion main event.
“The Filpino is no stranger to big fights,” promoter Smith said. “His last three bouts all were over 10 rounds. In his last bout, Moralde won the World Boxing Federation (WBF) international super-bantamweight belt with a 10-round unanimous decision over Jason Butar.
“He is also the Philippines’ current national champion.”
Moralde is undefeated in 11 bouts, with six of them by knockout.
Braydon Smith’s fight record is similarly impressive. He is the current World Boxing Council (WBC) Youth silver world champion and undefeated in 12 bouts.
The bout between Moralde and Smith over 10 three-minute rounds, the featherweight limit, has been sanctioned by the WBA. The victor will be awarded the WBA Oceania featherweight title and in the world’s top 15.
“It’s very unfortunate what happened with Metualy and his camp,” the promoter said. “It’s one that was totally out of our control. From our end everything was fine and we did all we could to salvage the bout.
“But it’s come down to a contract dispute between Mutualy and his management which is still being sorted by the Egyptian Boxing Commission.
“We couldn’t afford to wait any longer so we moved on. I worked with WBA Oceania secretary Derek Milham to source a replacement worthy of such a big fight, and John Vincent Moralde fitted the bill.
“This fight was verbally agreed on nearly three weeks now. we were just waiting to see what happened in Egypt before making it official.”
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PICTURE: John Vincent Moralde, national featherweight champion of the Philippines.
