Jarred Brooks and Joshua Pacio were booked to fight each other at ONE 158. The bout was nixed and no official explanation was offered but it appears the American suffered an injury in training.
He has certainly been uncharacteristically quiet on social media since the cancellation. But Brooks had plenty to say for himself yesterday when he accused Pacio of hiding and threatened to travel to Baguio to take the belt:
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Ready to go
Brooks certainly does not sound like a man who recently pulled out of a fight with Pacio due to injury. He challenges the champion to accept a bout with him,
“Can’t hide that belt from me Joshua Pacio! Your media obligations must mean more to you then defending your belt! I’m ready to go to Baguio city and take it myself! Done waiting.”
Pacio’s response was posted by Team Lakay on their official Instagram account with the champion claiming that he is ‘ready to go anytime'”
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Strange situation
It is a strange situation because the fight was cancelled without explanation. Reports in the Philippines made it clear that Brooks was the one who withdrew due to injury.
But the reference to Pacio’s media commitments is unclear. If the champion is currently doing that type of work he certainly isn’t posting about it on social media.
In fact if Pacio’s Instagram account is anything to go by all he does is watch fights and train for fights. It is nine months since his last title defence and he is clearly eager to get back inside the ONE Championship cage.
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Extremely active
Meanwhile Brooks has fought three times since Pacio was last seen in the circle, winning three fights in the space of just six months to earn his title shot. So the American has been extremely active during a period that the Filipino has had to wait patiently on the sidelines.
The injury to Brooks, assuming that is what happened, must have tested Pacio’s patience even further. After all fighters generally need to fight in order to get paid and he missed out on a payday at ONE 158.
Why was the fight cancelled? Was Brooks really injured? What are Pacio’s media commitments? When will the two top strawweights on the ONE Championship roster finally fight?
This raises so many questions. Hopefully we will get some answers soon!
