Daeloniel given an armchair lift in celebration of his victory against Indonesia’s Oky Akhbar at the 2nd Sarawak Open Boxing Championship in Sri Aman in August.
KUCHING (Sept 27): Professional boxer, Daeloniel Mcdelon Bong is determined to present the Asian Championship Professional Boxing belt to Sarawak when he competes in the Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) match in Bangkok, Thailand on Oct 26.
However, the boxer who hails from Sri Aman and is more fondly known as “Kilat Boy”, will have to overcome a difficult challenge when he fights Artid Bamrungauea of Thailand in the bantamweight category.
On paper, Artid has the edge with a good track record of 28 wins and 32 losses in professional matches.
However, that will not deter 24-year-old Daeloniel, who had made thorough preparations in his mission to hunt for glory in the prestigious championship.
Daeloniel said he had started his training this week with two to three sessions every day from Monday to Saturday.
“My confidence level is at 80-90 per cent considering that my opponent has a good record and experience and is also a former world champion challenger.
“God willing, of course I will do my best to get this ABF title.
“In terms of opportunities, God willing, there is indeed a chance to bring home the ABF belt but I still don’t want to be too confident and always prepare with the best and focus on the match,” he said when contacted.
The match was originally scheduled to take place in Dubai but was changed to Bangkok.
For the record, Daeloniel won his first pro match by defeating Oky Akhbar from Indonesia at the 2nd Sarawak Open Boxing Championship in Sri Aman last month.
The victory won him a slot in the ABF match.
If he wins, Daeloniel will be the first boxer from Sarawak and the second boxer from Malaysia to win the prestigious belt after Muhd Farkhan Haron from Johor who was drawn earlier.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Sarawak Amateur Boxing Association, especially its president Dato Rahman Lariwoo who has helped me a lot in my career since I started boxing in 2014.
“Thanks also goes to my manager Gulbudin Hekmatayer Rahman for his efforts and hard work to make this all happen.
“I would also like to thank the Sarawak government, the Sarawak Sports Corporation, the Sarawak State Sports Council, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development for helping me a lot and providing facilities in terms of training places, massages, analysis, nutrition and so on to ensure that I always in a healthy and fit state physically and mentally before and after every competition,” added Daeloniel.
Meanwhile, Rahman hopes that Daeloniel can make Sarawak and Malaysia proud by bringing home the championship belt in the match.
Admitting that it was a difficult task for Daeloniel, he remained optimistic that the Sri Aman-born boxer would be able to surprise his opponent.
“Indeed, if seen in terms of match record and experience, Artid has many advantages with good record and fighting in front of home supporters.
“However, I believe Daeloniel will not let us down. He has prepared so diligently every day to win the championship belt for Sarawak and Malaysia.
“I would like to thank the Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development, Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah for his support to SABA to allow us to send Daeloniel to participate in this international match,” said Rahman.