EDWARD “GENERAL” HENO and compatriot Roenel “The Hitman” Pael clash for the vacant Boxing Worldwide Organization (BWO) Asia bantamweight championship on August 5 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Heno, 29, who is sporting a 14-1-5 win-loss-draw record with five knockouts, returns to the ring after three years of inactivity and hopes his comeback fight against Pael of Matalom, Leyte will surely lead him to another crack for a world title within the year.
“Heno is going to be an attractive fighter in the world bantamweight division. He is ready to challenge anyone,” Aljoe Jaro of International Promotion and 5 Stars Entertainment and Promotions Inc., the promoter of the fight, said. “He was a former Philippine, WBO and OBPF champion.”
Heno’s last fight was a world title fight against Mexican World Boxing Organization (WBO) light flyweight champion Elwin Soto last October 23, 2019, but he lost through a unanimous decision in Indio, California.
But Jaro believes Heno would soon rise to the occasion and prove himself worthy of another world title shot in the bantamweight or super flyweight class.
“He only lost once but he will be back to win and dominate again,” he added. “Heno will prove to everyone that he belongs to the elite class.”
Pael holds a 23-11-1 record with 12 knockouts.
Other scheduled bouts are former WBC flyweight champion Sonny Boy Jaro battling RV Deniega in a 10-round bantamweight bout while Weljohn Mindoro facing Jemson Egera in a 10-round middleweight bout.
The BWO is a global sanctioning body in professional boxing founded in 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Enoch Cruz, the BWO president, and Mirlo de Castro, BWO vice president will be arriving in Manila to grace the first ever BWO bout in the Philippines.