Elorde boxer Ben Ligas weighed in this morning for his 118lb Bantamweight clash with Keita Nakayama tomorrow in Japan.

The Manila based fighter known as "The Sniper" found a lot of success as a Flyweight boxer, and was RP Champ for an extended time.

But the heavier weight classes were always his destiny, and he will test his mettle against an extremely tall opponent in the former standout amateur Nakayama at Bantamweight.

The Osaka local looked ominous at his pro debut, taking out Korean Ji Yong Kim in the very first round.

Philippines hope Ben Ligas will enter the ring sporting a 17 win 5 loss resume.

Great fight - best of luck to both fighters.

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Watch Philippines national champion Ben Ligas assault on the IBO Intercontinental belt tonight when he takes on hot South American boxer Andres Campos.

Campos was unbeaten in 15 fights before dropping a points decision to world champion Sunny Edwards in June.

Ligas has plenty of local support, attracting the attention of Andrew and Jason Maloney. The Philippines champ is flanked by master trainer Jetro Pabustan.

The live stream of tonight's bout will be posted here later.

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"The Sniper" Ben Ligas is in career best shape to shock them at the beautiful coastal  town of Burleigh Heads in Australia tomorrow night.

Ligas 15-3 takes on Chile's Andre Campos 15-1 for the IBO Intercontinental Fly title, and is expected to be easy pickings for the South American.

Campos had been destroying everything in his path in a 15 fight winning streak, before a points loss to world #1 Sunny Edwards in June of this year. The Chilean was only a fraction behind in that contest, and surely The Sniper represents a far easier task for him !!

But the Philippines national champion Ben Ligas will have other ideas, and as you can see from today's weigh in, he cuts an imposing figure and looks set to create a major upset in Australia tomorrow night.

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Cracking card in Pangasinan tomorrow, highlighted  even more so by this blistering main event  - "the Sniper" Ben Ligas versus "the Cobra" Genisis Libranza.

Ligas is current national Flyweight champ with a 14-3 record, and takes on Libranza who has the amazing stats of 20-1.

Nobody is ducking anybody here !

Great main event for Pangasinan.

Two days to go !!

Lots of great fights in Pangasinan this Thursday, but especially excited for these main three.

Benny Ligas and Genisis Libranza have genuine claims to being the Philippines best Flyweight, as their records attest. This one is impossible to pick the winner with any confidence.

Jonniel Laurente is unbeaten, but he jumps hugely in class when he meets Pablito Canada, a guy that has delivered great performances at the very highest level. Canada has been in with JonJon Estrada, Richard Pumicpic and no less than Charly Suarez in recent bouts. And let's not forget that he also had a huge KO win over top unbeaten prospect Michael Casama not long ago  - so this is a huge task for Laurente and one that will be a fantastic contest.

RoyRoy Sumugat and Richard Bulacan are two of the Philippines very best when they are "on", and be in zero doubt, both these guys will be prepped for killer performances this Thursday in Pangasinan.

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Two championship bouts in one explosive event as Elorde UKC Promotions invades Bayambang, Pangasinan this coming March 30, 2023.  Bienvenido Ligas will defend his RP Flyweight title against Genisis Libranza  while RoyRoy Sumugat and Richard Bulacan will be slugging it out for the PBF Lightweight title.

#KamaoNgBayambangueño

#ElordeUKCPromotions

#VSPBoxing

#ElordeTV

This great pic was from the Reboot show way back in February 2021, and it was a major accomplishment by Mam Cucuy Elorde to pull it off!

Charly Suarez had been inactive (as were all local pinoy fighters) and the pandemic was proving to be a terrible time for many boxers who could not return home, and even worse, having a daily battle to feed themselves and their families.

VSP asked Mam Cucuy if it was possible to create a show so that Charly Suarez could resume his career. Despite all odds, she put together a great card that  also unearthed another big talent - the Wolverine JonJon Estrada!

The event was aptly named Reboot  "New Beginning" ,and even though there were only 5 bouts, and the boxers had to endure a "quarantine bubble", it was a lot of fun and marked the start of boxing again in the Philippines.

Boxers that starred at THE BEGINNING :

The Wolverine JonJon Estrada

King's Warrior Charly Suarez

Cerberus Lorenz Ladrada

Remon "Bad Bad" Basas  

Ali "Carnage" Cañega

Apocalypse Glenn Bismanos

The Sniper Ben Ligas

The Bull Alphoe Dagayloan

The Prince Andrew Laurio

Ranny "the Cleaner" Quizo

Despite suffering narrow losses, Ben Ligas and Jules Victoriano produced next level performances in the belt fights in Vietnam last night.

Ligas faced the vastly experienced Uzbek, the much revered "mini Tyson " Olimjon Nazarov. This was quality boxing from both, with "the Sniper" bringing the cleaner punches, but perhaps lacking the aggression of Nazarov, who looked constantly keen for work. This was a hard match to score, as neither fighter was particularly dominant in a see sawing affair, and the body shot in the 11th where Ligas took a knee was perhaps the only real difference.

Dinh Hong Quan is physically indomitable, and with his height and reach, this improving Vietnam boxer is a task for anybody. It was anticipated that Jules Victoriano would give him his toughest test to date, and he definitely didn't disappoint !

This was a great fight, and is probably best viewed in two parts. Victoriano boxed beautifully in the early rounds, but despite landing nice shots, the Vietnam champ kept stealing rounds with some heavier and more direct landed shots. Quan also "appeared" more dominant, more frequently backing Victoriano up and putting him on to combos.

Going into the second half of the fight, Victoriano definitely lifted his output and accuracy, and even gave the Vietnam opponent a couple of "dig deep" moments !

This was an exciting and fantastic match up, that very easily could have been scored a draw, it was that evenly contested! There is no doubt that Dinh Hong Quan produced the best performance of his career last night, and this was really needed because of the beautiful boxing skills displayed by Jules Victoriano.

VSP would love to see these two great young fighters rematch at a later date, maybe on a bigger stage!

Post event, all smiles, and pictured are Coach Toto Laurente, Ben Ligas, VSP Vietnam boss Lim Song, and Jules Victoriano. Great job by all !

Philippines' Ben Ligas and Jules Victoriano looked in crazy shape at today's weigh in!

All boxers passed the scales without incident, and the stage is set for a huge night of boxing in Ho Tram Vietnam tomorrow night.

Ligas will fight Uzbekistan's "mini Tyson " Olimjon Nazarov for the WBO Oriental Flyweight championship. While reaching veteran status, Nazarov is still a boss in the ring, and has an amazing record of 27 wins in 32 fights. Philippines champ Ben Ligas has a height and reach advantage, and will need to use this to keep the Uzbek wizard on a leash.

Dinh Hong Quan is a typically Vietnamese fighter - long, lean and one super tough SOB!

Jules Victoriano represents his biggest challenge as a pro when the two meet for the IBF Asia Lightweight belt tomorrow night. Victoriano is a stylistic boxer with power, and whilst he is normally the taller boxer, this won't be the case against Quan.

This is a super match up, and perhaps the best yet seen in the short history of pro boxing in Vietnam !

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Ben Ligas and Jules Victoriano are ready to fly out for HCMC Vietnam ahead of Saturday's big fight night in Ho Tram.

Ho Tram is a coastal area, about 150km south of HCMC, and the Grand Casino is proving a popular boxing venue.

HCMC is still working with crowd restrictions as a result of the pandemic, so non city areas are great choices for boxing events.

Local promoter Cocky Buffalo have a great card, highlighted by belt fights that include the two Elorde boxers.

National champ Ligas will fight outstanding Uzbekistan boxer Olimjon Nazarov, a winner of 27 fights, and is a world top 40.

Jules Victoriano and local Vietnam prospect Dinh Hong Quan will contest the IBF Asia Lightweight title, and this is sure to prove the highlight of Saturday's cracking card of bouts.

Safe travels boys!

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Some cracking undercard bouts, and the inclusion of some foreign invaders, just to add flavour!

Nguyen Van Hai from Vietnam makes his first international pro appearance when he takes on home boy Jerald Into. Hai is a master at many fight forms, and though he hasn't boxed for some time, his clash with the unbeaten Into will be one of the highlights of ANNIHILATION UKC.

Linn Sandstrom promised a busy 2022, and the popular Swedish up and comer returns after a successful March appearance with Aisah Alico. She matches up with Thailand visitor Khwunchit Khunya.

Mickey Pengue from Australia is an outstanding type, but was derailed in a regional belt fight recently after damaging his ear drum in the opening round. He is on a quick back up in Paranaque, looking to steady the ship against the solid Gerry Patenio. The local boxer showed good signs in his last fight against tall timber Al Cañega, so will be no pushover for the impressive Aussie.

Roland Jay Biendima is a dynamo, and after a quality showing against national Flyweight champ Ben Ligas, he scored an emphatic win over Powell Balaba. Rest assured, he will be looking to carry on the good work when he meets Joel Taduran.

ANNIHILATION UKC

Elorde Sports Centre Paranaque Manila

Sunday August 7th

WATCH IT LIVE AT:https://www.facebook.com/VSPPromotion

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Philippines Flyweight champion Ben "the Sniper" Ligas made amends for a scoring travesty in Cebu, with a classy title defense over Roland Jay Biendima.

The 112 division is stacked with talent right now, and there has been a lot of talk about who's next to challenge for Ligas' national crown.

But rumours are strong that the Philippines champion will be testing himself against international opposition at his next fight, an initiative that surely will see him an even more formidable foe for locals to deal with.

This will be a big news story breaking soon for sure.

Watch this space!

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Thats the way you want to see a champ defend his title!

Ben Ligas looked all class in a near shutout win over Roland Jay Biendima.  The Elorde boxer looked balanced and in control and set up beautiful combos off his enviable jab.

Biendima was one tough SOB as expected, and landed some nice shots of his own. He definitely had Ligas hurt a couple of times in this quality national championship bout.

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The Wild Man Jino Rodrigo making international guests Linn Sandstrom and Jada feel welcome. When not a tour guide, the boisterous Rodrigo doubles as a boxer, and expect his clash with Roberto Gonzales to be one of the best of the day.
Can Jino get lucky two days in a row?

The three title fights all weighed in without problem, and all six boxers looked in magnificent shape.
Suarez v Mangubat WBA Asia title
Martin v Baldonado WBA Asia and RP title
Ligas v Biendima RP title

15 great fights Read all about them here:

https://www.vsppromotions.com//promotions/tiger-2022

Ben "the Sniper" Ligas suits up for his Philippines Flyweight title defense next Saturday in Paranaque.
Not only a boxer of high potential, Ligas doubles as a pretty useful model for the latest sports wear from the team at BE ATHLETIC !
The Sniper will defend his belt as one of the main undercard bouts to the huge Charly Suarez v Tomjune Mangubat WBA Asia clash.
TIGER 2O22 will play host to a mammoth 15 killer bouts, and many of the champion fighters will be dressed by BE ATHLETIC !
Lots of thanks to Raoul Navarrete and his hard working team for making these stars look their best.

Philippines national Flyweight champ Ben Ligas will be defending his title at TIGER 2O22 this March.
And if he doesn't win, who really cares, because he will be
WALKING TALL, LOOKING GOOD ! in this great design from the hard working team at
BE ATHLETIC.
Thanks to Raoul Navarrete and Be Athletic for supporting Philippines sports and Boxing.
Remember if you wanna look like a champ, Be Athletic will take care of you!

Two weeks out and the Philippines national Flyweight champ Ben Ligas is raring to go!"The Sniper" has trained well in preparation for his title defense, and in spite of losing two challengers along the way, has a battle on his hands with the very resilient Roland Jay Biendima.BEN LIGAS v ROLAND JAY BIENDIMARP Flyweight titleTIGER 2O22 Ultimate Knockout Challenge Paranaque, ManilaSaturday March 12thWATCH IT LIVE AT: https://www.facebook.com/VSPPromotion/

OK fight fans, here are three of the very best athletes that will be appearing at the upcoming TIGER 2O22 next month.
Arnel Baconaje, Jonathan Almacen and Benny Ligas pictured after yesterday morning's workout, and already looking ready for battle!

Baconaje is one of Philippines elite, and returns to the ring to match up with last start winner, and former Pacquiao sparring partner, Leonardo Doronio.
Jonathan Almacen is a quicksilver light flyweight, and has a much anticipated (and dangerous ) clash looming with the unbeaten John Paul Bentoso, a young killer who has posted all his wins by way of knockout !
Ben Ligas is all set to defend his Philippines national title, and the word is, he is training the house down!
Good luck boys, we know you will put on a great show!

TIGER 2O22 Ultimate Knockout Challenge
Paranaque, Manila
Saturday March 12th

Philippines flyweight champ Ben Ligas, seen combining hard work with smiles while training yesterday!

Ligas has a huge task confronting him this March when he defends his title against the precociously talented Jerven Mama. The Mindanao fighter known as "Iron Fist", is one of the rising stars of the Sanman stable, and he has his sights on returning home as the newly crowned national champ.

That's one side of the story!

Meanwhile in Manila, Ben "the Sniper" Ligas keeps toiling, keeps refining his tools to keep that belt from going south. And who better to work with than the OPBF champ Giemel Magramo, a winner of 25 fights including 20 by way of stoppage.

In the very best traditions of "tough love", let's not forget the old adage that "iron sharpens iron!"

We will see !

BEN LIGAS v JERVEN MAMA

Philippines Flyweight championship

TIGER 2022 Ultimate Knockout Challenge

Paranaque, Manila

Saturday March 12

WATCH IT HERE LIVE !!!

Jerven Mama and Ben Ligas are surely throwbacks to a bygone era, when real fighters were steered by the "duck nobody" policy! Their upcoming match will be for the Philippines flyweight title, where Ligas is the defending champion, and Mama is on a mission to take that mantle back to General Santos City. Both these outstanding young prospects have near identical records, and possess a common ideology :

"If you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best!"

Philippines Flyweight title

BEN LIGAS v JERVEN MAMA

TIGER 2022 Ultimate Knockout Challenge

Paranaque, Manila

Saturday March 5

WATCH IT HERE LIVE !!

Ben "the Sniper" Ligas said he'd defend his national title against the very best, and he wasn't kidding! The call went out, and outstanding Sanman boxer Jerven Mama was quick to respond! This match up shapes as one of the best bouts of the year, showcasing two of the potential stars of Philippines boxing.

Ben Ligas (13w) v Jerven Mama (12 w)

TIGER 2022 Ultimate Knockout Challenge

Paranaque  Manila

Saturday March 5

WATCH IT HERE LIVE !!

The Wonder Boy Carl Jammes Martin and Ben "the Sniper" Ligas were back at "the office" and hard at work today.
These boys star as the two big undercards at TIGER 2022 to the epic Suarez v Mangubat main event. And both have significant battles of their own!
Martin will fight for WBA south east asian strap, with a soon to be announced opponent.
Ben Ligas defends his national flyweight title against Sanman killer Jerven "Iron Fist" Mama. Sounds positively scary!

TIGER 2022 Ultimate Knockout Challenge
Paranaque, Manila
Saturday March 5th

The sport of boxing can throw up unusual and ambiguous results. Some would go further and argue inept - often even corrupt! And it is also an unfortunate reality that those outside the ring, those that adjudicate the results, often lack the resolve and the ability of the combatants inside the ropes! Ben “the Sniper” Ligas returns on March 5 hot on the heels of a superb 2021.

Ligas was fortunate to engage in three fantastic matches during the year, starting with a hard earned but deserved win in February against a really durable Alphoe Dagayloan. This match was nonstop punching, a smattering of skills, and really good moments for both fighters.

July saw Ligas take on outstanding prospect Miel Fajardo, and in what appeared to be a match too tough to pick on paper, the match fulfilled every expectation and then some. In what could have been easily “Fight of the Year”, Fajardo was equally energetic and brutal, putting The Sniper under constant duress. To his credit, Ligas’ composure and cool counter punching redressed the scoring imbalance, and signalled that he is a boxer of some promise. Fajardo had firepower on tap, and showed that he is a handful for any opponent, and he definitely has a big future.

Robbing jeepneys is not legal, but how about robbing boxers?

Ben Ligas ventured to Cebu in late October, and took on the unbeaten and feisty April Jay Abne. This was a really good quality action match, and predictably, Abne brought lots of energy to keep it entertaining. It must be said that Ligas technically took his opponent to school, and scored a comprehensive win against a more raw, yet willing opponent, It was a nice fight from Abne, who did his best to stay in the contest till the end, and did enjoy good moments of his own. His effort to take 3 rounds from Ligas shows promise of things to come.  The official “result” was an unfortunate distraction to a great match between Abne and Ligas, and a sad reminder of what is all too common in boxing these days.

That was then, and this is now, and the big and breaking news is that the Sniper Ben Ligas is back March 5th. No sour grapes or hard luck stories, just big smiles and lots of heart, ensuring that you are going to see something special very soon!