VETERAN DONNY MABAO WINS VACANT RP FLYWEIGHT TITLE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 22 Feb 2016
Mabao.
Veteran Donny Mabao has beaten favored Michael Enriquez to win the vacant Philippine flyweight title by a majority decision in one of five title fights staged at the Taguig Sports Center by United International Promotions headed by Japan?s Ryuta Kato and executive director Warren Evison, a British boxing trainer, last Saturday.
Nicknamed ?Mr. Shallow?, Mabao who was ranked No. 11 light flyweight in the ratings of the Games and Amusements Board in January outhustled Enriquez whose name didn?t appear in the ratings with a fight plan that was certainly not shallow.
Enriquez, nicknamed ?Blade? was unable to cut through the defense of the quick-footed Mabao who used his veteran?s experience to eke out a majority decision with judges Benz Penafiel (115-113) and Ver Abainza (116-113) scoring the fight for Mabao while judge Oliver Garcia saw it a draw (114-114.).
With the win Mabao improved his record to 21-24-3 with a mere 4 knockouts while Enriquez who failed to use a four inch height advantage and wasn?t able to catch Mabao with a solid punch dropped to 11-3-1 with 7 knockouts.
In a battle for the vacant Philippine welterweight title, towering 5?11? Dennis ?The Destroyer? Padua from Nueva Ecija avenged his 4th round TKO loss to Stephen ?Incredible? Gelawa in Baguio City on February 23, 2014 with a 7th round TKO loss in a furious give-and-take slugfest in which both fighters were bloodied with Padua?s height advantage a crucial factor in the fight.
The 32 year old Padua was coming off a 1st round TKO loss to Bai Shan Bo of China in Kunming last November 3 but made no mistake this time as a series of unanswered punches that caught 24 year old Gelewa in trouble forcing internationally respected referee Ferdinand Estrella to call a halt at 2:46 of the 7th round despite the protests of Gelawa.
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