Rene Mark Cuarto knew Pedro Taduran will be coming in and he was well-prepared for it.
Showing counter-punching skills, Cuarto foiled Taduran's repeated assaults to win by unanimous decision and become the new International Boxing Federation minimumweight champion.
Having thoroughly studied his opponent's brawling style with chief trainer Nonoy Neri, Cuarto anticipated his opponent's moves and beat him to the punch most of the time to earn the 3 judges' nod with similar 115-113 scores.
Aware that Taduran packs a wallop, Cuarto avoided going toe-to-toe as planned but firing combinations when there are chances.
Cuarto did feel Taduran's power in the 7th round when he got hit by a right hook. But thanks to his great conditioning, he weathered the storm, regained his rhythm, and went back to the hit-and-run strategy hatched by Neri, a key member of Manny Pacquiao's training team.
"We studied his style in previous fights and true enough that's what happened," said Cuarto in Filipino.
According to Neri, their game plan worked because Taduran stuck to being the aggressor throughout the bout in General Santos City.
"We prepared well for what Taduran tends to do and Cuarto was over 100% ready for the fight of his life," said Neri, who also served as trainer to World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Johnriel Casimero.
Cuarto raised his record to 19-2-2 with 11 knockouts while Taduran dropped to 14-3-1, 11 knockouts.
Neri said he was grateful to MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons for working on the title fight while holed up in Los Angeles.
"And of course to Senator Manny (Pacquiao) for this undertaking. Without him, it would really be hard to produce Filipino world champions," added Neri, who doubles as Pacquiao's personal cook in his foreign stints.
Knowing how hard Pacquiao trains and the food the eight-division world champion eats, Neri applied the same philosophy on Cuarto.
To make sure Cuarto will be in optimum form, Neri quartered him at his own home in Davao and monitored his diet.
"If you're really prepared and in prime shape, victory will come," said Neri.