Lito Adiwang was supposed to test his standing in his young career when he was booked to face world-ranked Jarred Brooks on ONE on TNT last April.
However, disaster struck Adiwang.
Adiwang, a native of Baguio, had to pull out of the bout after testing positive for COVID-19. And it was not an asymptomatic case, as he experienced all the symptoms of the virus.
Five months after his ordeal, the 27-year-old Team Lakay standout is still feeling the effects.
“Meron pa rin. Aaminin natin na meron pa ‘yan,” he disclosed. “Nasabi sa atin ‘yan especially noong nagre-recover pa lang tayo.
“Ramdam na ramdam ko rin. Parang back-to-zero – hindi lang back-to-zero, back-to-negative ‘yong feeling ko. ‘Yung cardio, ‘yung lakas ko bumagsak talaga.”
That is why during his training camp in preparation for his bout against Hexigetu which will take place at ONE: Revolution on Friday, Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao gave emphasis on two things – cardio, and strength and conditioning.
“We needed to come up with a plan na kailangan mabawi namin ‘yung nawalang lakas sa amin dahil sa sakit na iyon,” said Adiwang, who is looking to go to 13-3.
Good thing for Adiwang, though, he was not alone while going through it.
Joshua Pacio, Stephen Loman, and Eduard Folayang also experienced it. And together, they were able to overcome which helped them kick the mental effects.
“One thing is mindset.
“Kailangan namin i-block ‘youn para ‘di maka-apekto sa amin. Ngayon wala, ‘di namin iniisip na nabawasan ‘yung lakas, iniisip namin is naka-recover kami at mas malakas pa kaysa last time,” he said.
Step one to recovery is him beating Hexigetu.
“Right now, I’m focused on Hexigetu alone. He’s the one in front of me, and I can’t look past him.”
