Team Lakay coach confident of Eustaquio’s chances

Team Lakay.

JAKARTA — Team Lakay coach Mark Sangiao isn’t putting too much pressure on Geje Eustaquio to match the accomplishments of his contemporaries, knowing that in terms of motivation, his flyweight warrior is already aware of what he has to do to get to the level of his peers.

“It’s the same. I always ask them, ‘What is the goal for every fighter?’ It’s to get the belt. So they know it and it’s already a motivation for them to do well in their training and inch closer in getting that belt soon,” he said on Thursday after the open workouts at Celebrity Fitness Gym in fX Sudirman here.

Eustaquio (9-5) will face probably the biggest threat to his title aspirations in former two-time ONE Flyweight Champion Kairat Akhmetov on Saturday in the main event of ONE: Total Victory at Jakarta Convention Center here.

If victorious, the 28-year-old striker can stake his claim to challenge the promotion’s top flyweight Adriano Moraes of Brazil for the belt.

That could put Eustaquio in the limelight like fellow Team Lakay fighters like Honorio Banario and reigning ONE Lightweight Champion Eduard Folayang.

But Sangiao refused to look beyond Eustaquio’s next opponent, but the decorated mentor has no doubt in his mind that his ward is more than ready to get his place in the spotlight.

“Akhmetov will be a tough draw for us,” he admits.

“In terms of confidence, Geje is 101-percent confident. You can see that he’s mentally prepared and though we’re facing a former champion, I think we have a good gameplan. Looking at his nutrition and conditioning, we’re well prepared,” said Sangiao. “If he executes our gameplan well, I think we’ll definitely get the win.”