Banario, Eustaquio vow to do better after ONE: Dawn of Heroes letdown

Honorio Banario vs Dae Sung Park. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Geje Eustaquio and Honorio Banario absorbed disappointing losses in ONE: Dawn of Heroes last Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Banario suffered a technical decision loss to Dae Sung Park in their lightweight bout while Yuya Wakamatsu stopped Geje Eustaquio in the first round in the reserve bout of the Flyweight World Grand Prix.

Both fighters, who are fighting out of Team Lakay, were distraught with how they fared, but they vowed to be better in the future.

“Things happened, in this level of competition, it’s either you get knocked out or you knock him out,” said Eustaquio (12-8).

“The lesson I learned in this fight I think is I need to train more,” said Banario (14-9). “I gave everything in the fight but it wasn’t my night and I think the next time I need to improve on my game.”

Banario, ONE’s first World featherweight champion, has now lost three of his past four fights.

Eustaquio, a former ONE World flyweight champion, meanwhile, never got his footing against Wakamatsu, absorbing a right cross that immediately knocked him out 1:59 into the first round.

“I believe this will be a stepping stone to become a better athlete,” said Eustaquio, who has dropped two of his previous three bouts.

But Team Lakay had a lone bright spot that night, and Eustaquio will do the best he can to help Danny Kingad prepare for the finals of the Flyweight World Grand Prix against Demetrious Johnson.

The 23-year-old Kingad took a split decision win over Reece McLaren and that set up a match against Johnson on October 13 in Tokyo.

“I’m happy with the performance of my teammate and we’ll push this kid to win the Grand Prix and, if God permits, the title,” said Eustaquio of Kingad, who could fight Adriano Moraes for the ONE World flyweight title if he beats Johnson.