At his best level yet, Robin Catalan confident ahead of ONE strawweight bout

Robin Catalan. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Filipino Robin Catalan believes his best is yet to come ahead of his strawweight fight against Pongsiri Mitsatit in ONE: Warriors of Light on May 10 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Catalan is coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over Indonesia Stefer Rahardian three months ago in Jakarta and he feels he has a lot more to show starting against Mitsatit.

“I’m more confident with my game now, especially after that win in Indonesia,” Catalan said.

“I feel like this is the best level that I have been at, both mentally and physically.”

The 28-year-old Catalan is more motivated too by his older brother Rene, who is currently on a mean streak with six straight wins, to keep grinding.

“Together with [my brother] Rene, we always look back and analyze our previous fights during training sessions so we can improve further,” he explained.

“Not to be arrogant or anything, but I feel like a different athlete — particularly with my determination and confidence to get the win.”

The emergence of talented fighters in the strawweight class has also pushed Catalan to show no letup in improving his craft.

“I know there are still a lot of things to work on. But I will do everything to get that win and make sure I keep in step with other contenders,” he said “I expect more challenges and more obstacles to hurdle if I truly want to become a world champion.

“There are so many great warriors in my weight class and that’s one of my motivations — trying to keep in step with them.”