Alvarez, Camacho all set for PXC 54

Frank “The Crank” Camacho, left, and Korean Han Seul Kim face off during a press conference for PXC 54 yesterday in Guam. The two fighters will duel in the main event of PXC 54 tomorrow at the UOG Calvo Field House.
(Pacific Xtreme Combat Photos)

Frank “The Crank” Camacho and Shane “Pikaboo” Alvarez are counting on their rigorous fight camp in San Diego as they go for the win in their respective fights in tomorrow’s PXC 54 at the University of Guam Calvo Field House.

Camacho will be featured in the main event of the MMA competition as he takes on Korean Han Seul Kim, while Alvarez will be challenging the U.S.’ Emilio Urrutia in one of the seven supporting bouts in PXC 54.

“The raining in San Diego was amazing and training with high level guys was too awesome. I’ve improved a lot and I am looking forward to seeing the results of the level of conditioning they put us through. And the game plan I have in store for Kim is going to be awesome,” Camacho said.

The 27-year-old MMA fighter trained at Alliance Training Center for nearly three weeks and had workouts with Brandon Vera, Phil Davis, Dominick Cruz, Jeremy Stephens, Ross Pearson, and other UFC fighters in preparation for his duel against Kim.

He is facing Kim, who holds a 7-3-0 win-loss-draw record, in a welterweight bout and Camacho said is he more comfortable in this weight class.

“Now that I’m back up to 170lbs (welterweight) I have a lot more energy to compete,” said Camacho, whose previous fights were in lightweight class.

Coming into this weekend’s fight, Camacho sports an 18-3-0 mark, winning his last three bouts.

Meanwhile, Alvarez is battling Urrutia in the bantamweight class and the former is positive the better conditioning and much improved striking skills he developed in the same fight camp in San Diego will give him the advantage against his foe.

“The training was tough but as the days went by we started getting use to it because we were getting in so much better shape than when we started. We did a lot of wrestling which is their forte out there. The wrestling sessions were pretty grueling but that’s also why we got in shape so quickly. We really focused on strength and conditioning because the gas tank is really the only thing you can control in a fight so we made sure we pushed ourselves and our gas tanks,” said Alvarez, who will try to improve his 11-4-0 fight record and end a skid.

The Trench Tech bet lost his last two fights, bowing to Guam Tony Reyes (RNC) in PXC 52 last March this year and to Japan’s Yutaro Muramoto via unanimous decision in PXC 50 last December. Shane’s opponent also lost his recent fight (via split decision against Ernie Braca in January 2016 in PXC 51), but before that, Urrutia won three straight bouts.

Despite dropping his last two fights, Alvarez remains positive on his chances against the 29-year-old Urrutia.

“I feel I’m in the best shape of my life so far after doing lots and lots of running. My chances against Urrutia are really good especially after the fight camp I had. He’s a tough guy and is willing to stand or go to the ground. I know I have the edge on him in the stand up and since we were doing a lot of wrestling out there I know he’s going to have a hard time taking me down. Everyone in San Diego was very impressed with my striking skills and I will definitely going to utilize my hands and combos in this fight. And I have the gas to do so for 3+ rounds. I’m ready!” Alvarez said.