‘Crank’ to fight in ROP triple main event

Frank “The Crank” Camacho will return to Saipan to headline a triple main event in the Rites of Passage 18: Warpath on July 3, Friday, at the Royal Taga Hall of the Saipan World Resort.

JON PEREZ
Frank “The Crank” Camacho, standing, returns to Saipan as he headlines Rites of Passage 18: Warpath and goes up against Japan’s Yasuaki Miura in a non-title fight on July 3 at the Saipan World Resort’s Royal Taga Hall.
(Jon Perez)

Camacho will be facing Japanese bet Yasuaki Miura (7-6) of Zendokai Nagano in a non-title main event fight after the respective bouts of Ernie Santos and Jordan “The Machine” Manglona for the flyweight belt, and Jose “Young Blood” Ramirez and Eric “Gatty” Gatmen for the lightweight strap.

The 26-year-old Camacho is aiming to bounce back from a first-round loss to another Japanese fighter and shooto champion Yusuke Kasuya (9-1-2, 1 knockout). Kasuya beat Camacho by rear-naked choke submission in Pacific Xtreme Combat 47 last March 13 in Guam.

Camacho’s defeat at the hands of Kasuya ended the former’s four-fight winning streak and in the process dropped his record to 15-3 with 11 of his wins by way of KOs.

Miura is also coming off a loss, his third straight, after falling to New Zealand’s Luke “The Jedi” Jumeau in the Pacific Rim Organized Fighting 10 last May 9 at the Taipei Gymnasium in Chinese-Taipei.

Camacho and Miura will be fighting in the 170-pound weight limit or welterweight.

Meanwhile, Guam’s High Blood Pressure’s Santos (2-0) and TrenchTech’s Manglona (2-1) will kick off the triple main event when they clash for the flyweight title. Their bout will be followed by the match between Ramirez of UMA Gym (1-1) and Gatmen (2-0) of Guam May Thai for the lightweight strap.

Three kickboxing matches will open up the event with UMA Gym’s Jayvin “The Prodigy” Santos going up against Zalaka’s Danny Jepen in a 130-pound bout and StrikeForce’s Kier “The Radical Kidd” Agda taking on Guam Muay Thai’s Wesly “Baby Bully” Ponio in a middleweight contest. GMT’s Ryan “Snowflake” Perez will close out the kickboxing events against Fradley Jepen of Zalaka.

In one of the nine undercard bouts, Josh “Oh My Gosh” Cruz’s opponent in the 135-lb category has yet to be determined. The other undercard bouts will be between Matthew “Mighty Mouse” Sablan of Red Ants Academy and MCAMMA’s Mike Muña (130lbs); MCMMA’s Jadrien “Bonbon” Camacho and A.J. “Smalls” Aldan of TrenchTech (115lbs); Independent fighter Daniel “Flowmotion” Floor and Mike ”The Medic” Pacini of GMT (145lbs); RAA’s Jones Langu and Independent Frankie Norita (145-150lbs); Ko “PakPak” Palacios of TT and Renz “The Intense” Benghit of Team Intense (155lbs); Lorenzo “Fruitty Pebbles” Attao of Gracie Barra and Lucas “The Irish Zombie” Nutting of TT (135lbs); Zalaka’s Derick Asao and Cole Morril of TT; and Zalaka’s Tim Salas and Jonathan “The Outlaw” Camacho of Down2Scrap (120lbs).

Cousins and Trench Tech stablemates Roman “Boom” Alvarez, who is fresh from a win in last week’s PXC 48 in the Philippines, and “Shiska” Bob Alvarez will be featured in back-to-back K1 fights.

Roman Alvarez will take on Ethan “Typhoon” Reyes of UMA Gym in the 145-lb weight limit, while Rob Alvarez will face Jarome Cruz of GMT/UX at 135lbs.

Trench Tech promoter Cuki Alvarez, however, said the fight card remain tentative and are subject to changes.

Tickets are out and can be bought at Boarderline Skate Shop, Swirls Saipan, both IT&E locations, Naked Fish, and at the Trench Tech Gym.