Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado admits that he is a fan of his next opponent, Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang, and it’s not surprising given the similarities of their styles.
Miado's mutual respect for his compatriot will have to take a backseat though, as they are set for an explosive clash in the first part of ONE X on Saturday, March 26 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
While wary of fighting a fellow Filipino, Miado also sees this as an opportunity to move higher up the strawweight division given that Adiwang is ranked number five.
“With Lito, I am a fan myself. His fights are very exciting and entertaining. It will be a chance for me as well to step up,” he said.
“I know that he’s already a big name in the division. We won’t know what will happen in the fight. It’s nothing personal. It is part of the job. I really expected that we would soon, but I didn’t expect it to be this early.
“I followed him on ONE Warrior Series. His fights were all explosive, and I watched all his fights until he entered the main roster.”
That kind of explosiveness is something that the Albay native will be wary of when they face off for three rounds in the first all-Filipino showdown in ONE since Joshua “The Passion” Pacio defended his ONE Strawweight World Title against Rene “The Challenger” Catalan in 2019.
“He’s explosive, that’s for sure. As for skills, I think he’s ok. But what I observed from him is that he’s really explosive in his matches,” Miado offered.
While he’s in awe with Adiwang’s constant pressure and pedal-to-the-metal approach, that doesn’t mean that the Marrok Force star will back down and let “Thunder Kid” roll him over.
In fact, he’s seen some weaknesses that he can exploit come fight night.
“We study his techniques, and then I drill counters with my wife that I can use in the fight. All fighters have their weaknesses, even myself, and they probably studied me as well,” Miado said.
“It’s all about how you prepare and open your mind in the match. But for sure, I’m seeing some holes I can exploit, and they probably found some for me too, but we’ll see how it goes on fight night.”
While he doesn’t want to predict the outcome of this match, Miado is sure of one thing - a performance bonus is on the way for the winner of this explosive match.
“This is what I think will happen,” Miado said while making a “flying bills” gesture.
“We should get the bonus and tell the world ‘this is how Filipinos are.’ I want fans to see a great show from both of us. It’s difficult to predict because we both have power. We don’t know who will drop first, but I expect that it won’t reach a decision.”
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