Pikaboo faces Australian foe in PXC 56

Trench Tech’s Shane “Pikaboo” Alvarez, left, connects on a left straight on Miami’s Emilio Urrutia during their bantamweight bout in PXC 54 in Guam last year. (Pacific Xtreme Combat Photo)

Trench Tech’s Shane “Pikaboo” Alvarez hopes to move closer to a title bout in the bantamweight division with a win against an Australian fighter in PXC 56 next month.
“Yes, I’m fully confirmed for PXC 56 which will be taking place in Guam on March 25. My opponent is Darwin Sagurit,” Alvarez said.

Sagurit fights out of Australian Top Team based in Sydney, New South Wales and won his last two fights. The 32-year-old MMA fighter holds a 7-4 win-loss record with five of his victories coming by way of knockouts.

“This is a very important fight because one more after this one and I know I’ll be the next person in line to fight for the 135-lb belt. I’ll be going out there and giving it my very best to make sure I get the win,” said Alvarez.

Guam’s Trevin “5 Star” Jones holds PXC’s bantamweight crown following his controversial split decision victory over Kyle Aguon in PXC 55 late last year.

Alvarez, on the other hand, earned a convincing win over Miami’s Emilio Urrutia in PXC 54 in July 2016. The CNMI fighter used a rear-naked choke to stop Urrutia at the 4:31 mark of the second round. With the victory, Alvarez improved his record to 12-4, three of them via KOs, five off submissions, and four by decisions.

Against Sagurit, Alvarez is excited for the slam-bang affair.

“My opponent is a stand-up fighter, he likes to throw haymakers and slug it out. I am extremely excited about this because I am a stand up fighter as well so it’s definitely going be an entertaining bout,” Alvarez said.

Sagurit’s back-to-back wins last year were all by knockouts in the first round. In Brace 42 in Canberra, he pummeled Byron Cowell with punches to get the TKO win at the 2:30 mark of the opening round. Then in Brace 45, which was also held in the Australian capital, it took Sagurit only 50 seconds to KO (punches) Richie Ivory. With his twin wins, Sagurit held a 3-1 record in 2016 with his other victory against Gustavo Falcirole (TKO/punches) in Minotaur 3: Carnage in Victoria, Australia. Incidentally, the Aussie’s lone loss (unanimous decision) last year was in PXC (53) against Rex de Lara.

“He has heavy hands so I just need to keep my hands up. I have the height and reach advantage on him and the speed and as long as I use them I should be in the green,” Alvarez said.

“I’ve been training right after the holidays so I could start the year strong. I’m feeling good and ready and still got over a month to train some more. I’m very excited for this upcoming match as the preparations for it have been going really well,” he added.