By Jan Carlo Anolin
Joshua Pacio has revealed how he maintains his confidence despite being the ONE strawweight king at 24.
His secret: Training with teammates in Team Lakay.
ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua Pacio poses during the ONE: Fire & Fury open workout at One Esplanade in Pasay City. (ONE Championship Images)
Coming into the ONE: Fire & Fury main card against former strawweight champion and jiu-jitsu specialist Alex Silva, Pacio draws motivation from the fact that five of them in Team Lakay will compete in the event on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“Mga naka-training ko ay mga beasts. ‘Di nyo alam nabubugbog ako sa training, sa sparring ni Danny , ni Lito ,” Pacio said Wednesday during the open workout at One Esplanade in Pasay City.
“Kaya ako champion ngayon kasi binubugbog nila ako. My confidence comes from my training.”
Adiwang faces Pongsiri Mitsatit in the same division while Danny Kingad and Xie Wei battle in the flyweight bout.
Gina Iniong, the 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in kickboxing, duels with Asha Roka in the atomweight division.
Two-time lightweight world champion Eduard Folayang and Pieter Buist clash in the lightweight division.
With all eyes on him and a title to defend, Pacio is locked in on his long-term goal as a martial artist – constant improvement.
“Champion man or hindi, bawat laban sana nag-iimprove ako. Hindi nyo makikita ‘yung Joshua Pacio last year, dapat iba ulit.”
The 24-year-old Baguio native is patterning his game to that of American Demetrious Johnson, former UFC flyweight champion.
‘Pag makikita nyo si Demetrious Johnson, bawat laban niya iba e. So that’s my goal as an athlete.”
Johnson defeated Kingad in the flyweight Grand Prix final in October two years ago, providing a strong warning to future challengers.