‘Boom’ eyes shoring up his PXC ranking

Roman “Boom” Alvarez left for Manila Tuesday morning with the hopes of returning to the Marianas with a victory against Filipino bet Ernie Braca in Pacific X-treme Combat 48 on Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, Philippines.

Roman Alvarez hopes to return to the Marianas with another victory when he faces Filipino Muay Thai fighter Ernie Braca in Pacific X-treme Combat 48 on Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. (Jon Perez)

Alvarez (4-0, with 3 by knockout) will take on the Iloilo Combat Sports fighter Braca (1-1, KO) in one of the eight undercard bouts.

The Alvarez-Braca bout is fourth on the fight card that will feature crowd favorite Rolando Gabrield Dy Navarette against Guam’s Kyle Aguon in the main event.

“I’m going to bring all the positive vibe and motivation that the Marianas gave me. They’ll be seeing me perform and fight at my best because I’m going to represent my island to the fullest,” said Alvarez, who left Saipan at 5am Tuesday.

Though Alvarez’s only clue of Barca is that he is a Muay Thai fighter that has topnotch striking skills, the reigning Trench Warz featherweight champion is still optimistic of his chances.

“I really don’t know much about him. It is an advantage and a disadvantage. It’s a bit of both. Not knowing what my opponent is going to bring is always scary. All I know is I’m going to do everything that I can to defeat him,” said Alvarez.

“The advantage for me is that I don’t need to worry about my opponent’s game plan. He needs to worry on what I’m going to bring and about my game plan,” he added with a laugh.

Though he trains all year long, Alvarez prepared for four months against Braca. “We had an excellent four months of training camp for this fight. We focused on all parts of my game.”

“We focused mainly on stand up fighting because my opponent is a very good striker. But I know I could hang on and go toe-to-toe with him,” Alvarez added.

The Alvarez-Braca bout is a ranking fight in the Southeast Asia-Pacific region where the winner would move up.

Genil Francisco opens up the night when he takes on Charles Diao, to be followed by the Mark Alcoba-Marcelo Cabusas bout, while John Cris Corton battles Rufino Mante. Nilo Vidal collides with Adamson Torbiso, Ernesto Montilla faces Jinel Lausa, Harold Banario clashes with Mark Abelardo, and Crisanto Pitpitunge meets Alvin Cacdac in the semi-main event.

Alvarez’s cousins, Shane “Pikaboo” Alvarez and “Shiska” Bob Alvarez, and Ken “Kamakazi” Tanzawa will be at his corner on fight night.