‘The Crank’ helping ‘Pikaboo’ prepare for PXC 45

Frank “The Crank” Camacho is helping Shane “Pikaboo” Alvarez get ready for his flyweight non-title bout against Darren “The Bone Crusher” Uyenoyama in Pacific X-treme Combat (PXC) 45 set for Oct. 24 at the University of Guam Fieldhouse in Mangilao.

Alvarez (10-1 with 3 KOs), according to his father and Trench Tech Gym founder Cuki, is in the final two weeks of training together with the undefeated Vince “The Clinch” Masga (3-0) and Guam’s Roman “Boom” Alvarez (3-0).

Cuki said Camacho (12-2 with 9 KOs) is supervising his son and Masga’s preparations and they are cross training with members of Team Ground Fu, Spike 22, and Purebred Jiu-jitsu Guam.

Trench Tech’s Shane “Pikaboo”Alvarez connects on a kick against Kid Orias during their bout in PXC 41 last year at the University of Guam Fieldhouse. (PXC PHOTO)

Alvarez and Masga are in the eight undercard bouts in the featured main event between hometown bet Kyle Aguon (7-4) and Rolando Dy (5-2 with 1 KO) of the Philippines for the vacant PXC bantamweight title.

Masga, also fighting out of Trench Tech Gym, will be making his PXC debut when he opens the hostilities against Guam’s McKlane Alfred (3-1 with 1 KO) of Guahan Top Team.

Alvarez, on the other hand, has won his last three fights including two by decision, but he is expected to face one of his toughest challengers in the San Francisco native Uyenoyama (8-5 with 1 KO). Uyenoyama holds an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) record of 2-2. Despite dropping his last two UFC matches against Alptekin Ozkilic (9-3 with 2 KOs) via split decision and Joseph Benavidez (20-4 with 6 KOs) by way of a second-round KO, Uyenoyama is a tough nut to crack as he is a multi-titled Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter.

“He [Uyenoyama] is a veteran and former UFC fighter and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” said the elder Alvarez.

Cuki added that Camacho would be a big help in his son’s preparation for the biggest fight of his young mixed martial arts career.

Cuki, in an earlier interview, said watching Uyenoyama’s past fights was part of his son’s preparation.

“He’s been watching tapes of his [Uyenoyama] previous matches to carefully study his moves and style,” the elder Alvarez said.

The younger Alvarez is fresh from scoring a split decision win over Guam’s Jay Tenorio (1-1) in PXC 42 on Feb, 28 this year. It was his third straight win after losing to Robert Wusstig on Dec. 16, 2011. (Jon Perez)