FRESNO, Calif. -- They say you are what you eat. And if what Jonas Sultan is eating is any indication, he'll be better than he's been in the past.
Sultan, the mandatory challenger who faces IBF Junior Bantamweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas this Saturday, has been under the supervision of strength and conditioning coach Nick Curson at his Speed of Sport Gym in Torrance, California for nearly a month. The biggest breakthrough the team has made is in his nutrition habits, and how to balance him cutting weight while retaining his strength and hydration levels.
"Jonas used to starve himself before fights to make the weight. He would stop drinking water a week before. This guy couldn't sleep for two weeks leading up to each fight because his head was pounding so hard, he was so dehydrated and malnourished," said Curson, the American guru who had developed the strength program the ALA Gym has used for the past several years.
"I don't think we've ever seen him fight at full potential yet. I don't even think he's been close to where he could be with good diet and proper nutrition and hydration."
In the past, Sultan would eat minimally, like a single egg and two pieces of fruit per day while doing two-a-day training sessions. Now Curson has him on a specific diet where he rations macronutrients with calories broken into increments of 40 percent carbohydrate, 30 percent protein and 30 percent fat on training days, with more fat on sedentary days.
Sultan was happy to hear he'd be eating more, not less, to make the weight.
"We're keeping him more healthy and his energy is great. He'll be eating all the way up until the weigh-in," said Curson.
In addition to Sultan's diet, Curson has also been working on improving his performance through sport-specific exercises focusing on speed, reflexes, strength and endurance. Instead of clanging and banging dumbbells, Curson employs some outside-the-box drills like juggling medicine balls and extending one's range with a difficult game of catch with tennis balls.
Edito Villamor, head trainer of the ALA Gym, shared a photo of Sultan snacking on some baby spinach, saying that he's like "Popeye the sailor man" as he fuels up leading to fight night. Villamor added they've been able to better monitor Sultan's diet while in the United States and have noticed him reacting positively to the changes.
"It makes him more comfortable during the training, makes him stronger and feel better and look fresh," said Villamor. "The guidance of what to eat and what not to eat is the most important."
Curson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu first-degree black belt who counts a number of MMA and boxing stars among his other clients, had only worked with Sultan briefly in the past, spending a few days in Cebu before Sultan's fight against Johnriel Casimero, whom Sultan defeated by unanimous decision to become the mandatory challenger.
Both Ancajas and Sultan arrived in Fresno from Los Angeles on Monday evening, with Sultan at five pounds over the limit with five days still to go. Ancajas didn't get on a scale Monday night but is still eating comfortably, enjoying a meal of chicken adobo, hard-boiled eggs, okra and rice after a late-night workout in the hotel gym which consisted of six rounds of padwork and a cool down involving dribbling a medicine ball and practicing his crossover on trainer Joven Jimenez and stablemate Mark Anthony Barriga.
Ancajas, who is making his fifth title defense and his second straight appearance in America, relied primarily on running the mountainous roads surrounding his Survival Camp training complex in Cavite, but has also employed a nutritionist to make sure he makes the weight in a healthy manner.
Curson believes that Sultan being an underdog has helped motivate him to work harder -- and smarter -- and that the dangling carrot in front of Ancajas, a possible unification fight against WBA titleholder Kal Yafai being talked about for later this year, has him taking his eye off the ball.
"I definitely sense [Sultan] has got a lot of confidence. He feels that Ancajas is looking past him. I think our whole camp kinda gets that sense. People looked past him against Casimero," said Curson.
"He's just a humble Filipino. He works hard, he's just extremely coachable and he just puts his trust and his faith in his coaches and it's just a winning recipe.
"He's not coming here to lose."