JAKARTA, Indonesia—Joshua Pacio was initially slated to defend his strawweight title in a rematch with Hayato Suzuki of Japan.
Suzuki, however, suffered an injury that forced him to withdraw from the fight and be replaced by his compatriot Yosuke Saruta.
Pacio said he didn’t have any problems with taking on a different foe considering Suzuki pulled out from the bout early with still three weeks of preparation left.
“It happened three weeks ago so I was able to change my mindset and shift my focus on Saruta,” Pacio told Filipino scribes Friday.
Although it would’ve been ideal for Pacio to have his shot at redemption against Suzuki, who beat him by first-round submission in August 2017, the Team Lakay standout stressed it’s imperative for a champion to stake his title against any challenger.
“For me as a champion, my job is to defend the title against anyone. We need to be prepared for anything that may come even if there’s last-minute changes or whatever.”