THREE Bendigo boxers are set to feature on a huge card in the Philippines this weekend.
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Matt Hall, Brad Morgan and Dino Rafaeles will see action in the Northern Mindanao city of Iligan on Saturday night.
A crowd of about 3000 is predicted to be in attendance.
The opportunity to fight in the Philippines is the product of a blossoming relationship between the California Gully boxing gym run by brothers Pat and Gary Connolly and some of Asia's biggest gyms.
The trio left Bendigo on Saturday and will spend five days training at the international boxing gym of legendary promoter and trainer Rex 'Wakee' Salud in Cebu City.
Hall, Morgan and Rafaeles will train alongside current WBO bantamweight world champion Marlon Tapales, former WBO Oriental featherweight title holder Neil John Tabanao and a host of other top-notch Asian boxers.
Tabanao is no stranger to Bendigo boxing followers, having won his Oriental featherweight title at Bendigo Stadium as part of the Hosking Promotions Battle on the Goldfields II card in June.
From Cebu, the Bendigo trio will travel to Iligan City where they will fight alongside representatives from the Rex Salud gym.
The bouts will be the first on Asian soil for Hall and Morgan and the second for Rafaeles, who won his professional debut over Junrey Amora in the Philippines in September.
Middleweight Hall (two wins, one draw) and welterweight Morgan (three wins) are each undefeated after three fights.
Gary Connolly said all three fighters would be up against opponents with significantly more in-ring experience and would pose a strong challenge.
"They are not guys who have massive win records, but they will be guys who have had 10 and 15 fights," he said.
"They will be good opponents.
"It's also a great networking opportunity and a chance to get some good international experience early in their careers."
Connolly said the gym's goal was to have Hall, Morgan and Rafaeles to have six bouts a year - three in Asia and three in Australia.
"We figure that's a much better way than just to try and forge a career in Australia," he said.
"Asia is where it's at, with plenty of emerging professional boxing regions.
"It's important, especially early in their careers, to do things internationally to see what it's all about, so when they have the bigger fights, they know what to do to cope.
"It gets therm out of their comfort zone and it's a great adventure as well."
The trio is also undertaking some volunteer work while in the Phllippines.
