"Baby Joe" faces undefeated opponent

by Dave Delgado
Guam - On Friday, January 21 Baby Joe Taimanglo takes on undefeated Hawaii fighter Travis Beyer in PXC 22. Taimanglo has picked up back-to-back wins against opponents from the Korean Top Team camp in his last two fights. Joe has been focusing on his wrestling with Melchor Manibusan at Spike 22 and has kept his cardio up with cross fit training something he was introduced to by Jay Cunliffe.
"Training camp at Spike 22 has been great," said Taimanglo. "I've been learning a lot of wrestling and it looks like I have a lot to learn with wrestling. There are a thousand moves to learn and you can't learn them all at once so Melchor has been doing a great job by keeping us here 3 days a week with an hour of non-stop wrestling. That has added to my game and also keeping up with my stand up, my jiu-jitsu and my grappling and just brushing up with my wrestling with Melchor."
Baby Joe's opponent is moving down a weight class and normally fights at 155-pounds but will meet him at 145-pounds fight night Friday. Travis Beyer has finished guys off with punches and submissions proving to be a well-rounded fighter.
He said, "I've seen a couple of clips from him, pretty stocky guy and he normally fights at 155-pounds but he's dropping 10 pounds for the fight with me. I see that his strength is on the ground and wrestling so that's why I've been working a lot of wrestling and I think it's going to be an awesome fight and I'm going to try and keep it on my feet though.
With the fight 2 weeks away Joe is confident that his training will pay off when he steps into the cage against his Hawaii opponent. Joe has always been a crowd favorite and when the bell rings on January 21st he won't disappoint fight fans.
"With my fighting style you know I try to bring everything to the table I don't want to leave anything behind and I give 110 percent towards my competition that night. I'm looking forward to showcasing whatever and pretty much I like to do the stand and bang."