Miel Fajardo didn’t expect to end his biggest fight in just over a minute. He just recognized the moment when it came.
The Filipino flyweight came out of his corner on April 11 looking to test the defense of his opponent, Tobias Reyes, with a quick hook that snuck in around Reyes’ right glove. Instead of being a wake-up call, the shot sent the hometown fighter tumbling to the canvas. Reyes made it to his feet but went back down three more times before the fight was stopped just 65 seconds after the opening bell.
It was an IBF flyweight eliminator, expected to be an uphill battle for the fighter traveling across the globe to Santa Fe, Argentina, but it was over before it started.
“After the first punch, I saw that Reyes was hurt badly. I did not want to waste that opportunity,” said Fajardo, 14-3-2 (12 KOs).
“I didn't expect that outcome. The game plan for the fight was to outbox the opponent and to take my time. I didn't expect it would be an early knockout.”
The win was a much-needed confidence boost for the 26-year-old Fajardo, who has now won three straight following back-to-back decision losses in Japan and Tanzania to Thanongsak Simsri and Mchanja Yohana, respectively, in 2024. Despite wins overseas and victories over unbeaten opponents, Fajardo appeared to have a ceiling at the world level.
“To be honest, after the two back-to-back losses, I really lost my confidence and was doubting myself,” Fajardo said. “But I still continued to train, because there's still people rooting for me.”
That’s when he began retooling his team, sticking with his longtime trainers, the Asilo brothers, Ericxon and Jericho, while adding Lennon Tsoi – a Hong Kong-based former pro and head of RCT Promotions – as manager. After a quick tune-up knockout, Fajardo scored a unanimous decision victory over the respectable Esneth Domingo in October 2025 to set up his title eliminator opportunity. Tsoi says the plan to put Fajardo back into a major fight was hatched alongside international dealmaker Sean Gibbons.
“There’s something special about this kid that not many fighters have,” said Tsoi, who also manages Zyvyr John Medecilo.
“Everybody knows about his power and his killer instinct, but he has a different kind of discipline. He also has a high ring IQ, he hasn’t fought to the distance often but what we see during the training camps, the long rounds of sparring, his discipline during the camp, it’s really something different from other fighters. He has a chance to do something special in his career if he’s given the opportunity.
The victory over Reyes made Fajardo the mandatory challenger to the IBF flyweight title, which Japan’s Masamichi Yabuki will defend for the second time on June 6 against once-beaten Mexican contender Rene Calixto. The IBF is expected to immediately order the mandatory fight afterwards, with Fajardo set to face the winner, most likely by September or October, Tsoi adds.
Fajardo is now just one step away from the dream, which began for him at age 6, when his father first put him into boxing. Growing up in San Francisco in Agusan del Sur, Philippines, Fajardo was the third of four children born to a stay-at-home mom and a father who worked as a tricycle driver, bringing home 350 pesos – roughly $7 – per day. It was a tough life for Fajardo and his family growing up in a provincial area in the southern Philippines, far away from the major cities of Manila and Cebu, but his father saw boxing as a way to help his son break the cycle of poverty.
Fajardo had about 60 amateur fights, and though he didn’t win any major titles, his heavy-handed power made up for his relative inexperience. After going just 1-1-1 in his first three fights, Fajardo went 10-0-1 in his next 11, including a 10-second knockout of Sarawut Jiamthong in Thailand in 2022 in a scene that was a virtually carbon copy of the Reyes fight.
Fajardo knows he faces a stiffer challenge should he face Yabuki, or Calixto, in his first world title opportunity. The 33-year-old Yabuki, 19-4 (18 KOs), a former two-division world champion, has won six straight, including back-to-back 12th-round stoppages of former titleholder Felix Alvarado in December and his title-winning fight in March 2025 against Angel Ayala.
“Yabuki is a stylist, he manages the distance very well,” Fajardo said. “For the training camp, we will learn more how to close the distance against Yabuki.”
Calixto, 24-1-1 (10 KOs), of Acapulco, Mexico, is more in line with Fajardo’s style, an entertaining banger who is moving down in weight after a draw and a split decision loss to Willibaldo Garcia for the IBF 115lbs title.
Whoever emerges on June 6, Fajardo understands how important this next fight will be for him and his life.
“This fight is really important to me. It's every boxer's dream to fight for a world title,” he said. “That's the dream of everyone, so I’m going to train harder for the next fight.
“It means a lot for me if I win the world title fight. It will make my family have a better living, for sure.”
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
