PABUSTAN LOSES IN HEAD-BUTT INFESTED TITLE FIGHT AGAINST PUNGLUAN SOR SINGYU
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 13 Feb 2016
26 year old Filipino southpaw Jetro Pabustan lost in his attempt to wrest the WBO bantamweight title from Thai champion Pungluang Sor Singyu in a head-butt infested title fight in Korat, Thailand on Friday.
The fight was stopped at the end of round seven by referee Raul Caiz Jr who deemed a cut above the Filipino?s left eye too severe for the contest to continue.
At the time of the stoppage Pungluang was ahead by a 70-63 shutout on the scorecards of all the judges?Takeo Harada and Katshuhiko Nakamura of Japan and American Kermit Bayless.
The charming manager of Pungkluang, Pariyakorn Rattanasuban of the famous Onesongchai promotions in Bangkok told the Bangkok Post ?It was a tough and exciting fight for all the fans.
Pabustan turned out to be tougher than we expected. Pungluang is also strong and hard to beat. I am satisfied with his performance .?
Reporter James Goyder in an article in ?The Fight Nation? which was picked up by Boxing Scene noted that ?Pungluang likes to press forwards and fight on the inside while Pabustan, a southpaw, was happy to oblige him. The two styles and stances made for multiple head clashes and one of them caused blood to flow freely from the Filipino?s face as early as the opening round.?
Goyder noted that ?The Thai frequently fights with a grin etched across his face and he looked the happier of the two fighters in the first two rounds.
A couple of right hands from Pungluang landed and there were some good exchanges on the inside with Pabustan able to hold his own. A clash of heads in the third caused the referee to halt the fight while the doctor checked out the cut above Pabustan?s eye. The action was allowed to continue and Pungluang landed more right hands to the body and head of Pabustan.
In the fourth Pabustan went down but it was ruled a slip. Pungluang promptly moved in for the kill, landing left and right hooks to the body with the occasional uppercut thrown in for good measure. There were further clashes of heads in the fifth and sixth rounds and at the start of the seventh the champion started to keep his distance and use the jab.
The standoff didn?t last long as Pabustan started to throw three and four punch combinations and connected with a right hook. Pungluang answered with a right hand that sent the Filipino stumbling backwards and the Thai finished the round on the front foot with his opponent complaining following yet another clash of heads.
With Pabustan bleeding badly the referee decided he had seen enough and called a halt to the contest. The scorecards read 70-63 across the board with Pungluang successfully defending his WBO 118 lbs title for the first time in his second stint as champion.
The Thai improves to 52-3 while his opponent drops to 26-3-6. This was the 6th time that one of Pabustan?s fights finished in a technical decision.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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