Suico guns for WBA title today

On top of personal glory, Cebuano hard-puncher Randy Suico battles for national pride as he aims to give the Philippines a legitimate world boxing champion when he challenges undebeaten WBA lightweight tiltist Juan Diaz of Mexico today at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Suico-Diaz showdown serves as one of the supporting bouts of the eagerly-awaited rematch between 'Sugar' Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas.

Las Vegas oddmakers tabbed Suico as 8-1 underdog, but the handlers of the Mandaue City fighter are extra confident their ward has all what it takes to vanquish Diaz.

"Suico is taller and stronger. He has a very good chance of beating Diaz. Suico is a power-puncher and I'd like him to win by knockout," said Joe Koizumi, Suico's Japanese manager.

Some boxing pundits likewise believe Suico can pull off one major surprise in the face of almost insurmountable odds.

"Suico's chances in this fight are pretty slim but he has a chance. He should try to use his height and reach advantage against the much smaller Diaz and try to frustrate the champion with his long jab. He should also try to be a little aggressive because of his power. Suico must also be able to make Diaz backpedal.He can't afford to be victimized with Diaz's relentless style," said Sean Ocampo of eastsideboxing.com.

Suico holds a 24-2 (21KOs) record, while Diaz in unscathed in 29 fights with 14 wins by knockout.

This is only the third time Suico's fights in the US. He scored a fourth-round TKO win over Juan Carlos Garcia on September 13, 2002 in Las Vegas but dropped 10-round split decision loss to Javier Jauregui on September 23 last year at the USC Lyons Center in Los Angeles.

In his previous match last February 5 at the International Conference Hall in Nagoya, Japan, Suico retained his OPBF super featherweight crown after stopping Japanese Ryuhei Sugita in the fourth round.

Bugged by weight problem, Suico voluntarily abdicated his throne to campaign in the lightweight division.

Diaz, on the other hand, has successfully defended title he won by defeating Monglolia's Lavka Sim by unanimous decision on July 17, 2004 at the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas three times. The last was also by decision over 12 heats against Jose Miguel Cotto last April 8 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.