After six months on the sidelines, former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario will make his return to the ring to face Dae Sung Park at ONE: DAWN OF HEROES in Manila on 2 August.
His last match in Manila was a forgettable one when he met Lowen Tynanes at ONE: HERO’S ASCENT and lost in the first round by technical knockout. The loss taught him a valuable lesson as he returns to the same venue in search of success.
“I find my match with Lowen as somewhat bittersweet,” Banario said.
“I did my best in that match but Lowen proved to be the better man that night. He was quick in taking me down and I failed to defend myself on time. I have learned a lot from that match and I will be taking those lessons in my upcoming bout.”
The Team Lakay gym is situated in a city on top of a mountain surrounded by lush greenery and challenging terrain — factors that the team takes advantage of every time they train. But due to the rainfall Baguio City has been experiencing recently, the Team Lakay athletes, with the guidance of head coach Mark Sangiao, have taken their workouts to a much safer location.
“Coach Mark always plans our daily training menu with our efficiency and safety in mind,” Banario said.
“Even though there are five of us competing in Manila, we have always been training independently with our partners in the same weight division. We know the pressure coach Mark is feeling with roughly half of his athletes competing on the same night so we also do our part and train diligently.”
Banario empathizes with the athletes who had to pull out of their matches due to their injuries, which is why he wants to dedicate his upcoming match to them.
“This is the perfect opportunity for me to win,” Banario concluded.
“It is unfortunate that great athletes are getting injured and even though I’m out of the tournament, I will be doing my best to win on behalf of them as well as all the fans who are supporting us in my upcoming match.”
