ONE: Kingad doesn’t want to fight Team Lakay brother Eustaquio, not even for title shot

Danny Kingad. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—It may be a long shot, but a title fight between Team Lakay brothers Geje Eustaquio and Danny Kingad remains a possibility.

Kingad is up against Reece McLaren in the semifinals of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix while Eustaquio is set to face Tatsumitsu Wada in the alternate GP bout.

It would need a victory for both fighters and the winner of the Demetrious Johnson-Tatsumitsu Wada pulling out to set up a showdown, but if the pieces fall into place,  Kingad would still politely beg off fighting his “kuya.”

“If it was up to me, I don’t really want it,” said Kingad, who’s seven years the junior of 30-year-old Eustaquio. “But that if it’s up to me. I just don’t want to split our team on the premise of a World title shot.”

“Maybe I would just beg off and give the opportunity to them. We’re brothers and we’re a family. I don’t want to do anything that could affect that.”

The winner of the grand prix will be given a shot at facing ONE World flyweight Adriano Moraes.

Eustaquio already held championship gold when he beat Moraes in June of 2018 but Kingad has yet to get a title under his name.

If fans want to see them fight, they could pair clash in their sparring sessions in Baguio.

“If they really want to see the bout, they’ll have to give us a raise,” joked Kingad. “Maybe they should just visit us in the gym to watch us spar. There we grind every day.”