TAPALES RISES FROM THE CANVAS TWICE TO STOP PUNGLUANG IN 11TH, CAPTURES WBO BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE (PHOTOS)
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 27 Jul 2016
AYUTTHAYA, Thailand ? Marlon 'The Nightmare' Tapales of the Philippines showed nerve of steel by getting up from the canvas twice to stop two-time world champion Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand in the eleventh round in a fight of the year candidate and captured the WBO world bantamweight title as the small Filipino delegation erupted in celebration silencing the raucous Thai hometown crowd who fell silent here in a hot Wednesday afternoon.
Tapales connected with his signature combinations early but appeared tense as Sor Singyu, highly confident, smirked and timed Tapales with his own counters. Tapales continued to tag Sor Singyu but in the fifth round, the Thai champion connected with a wicked body shot and fell Tapales. Sor Singyu followed it up with another body shot that fell Tapales again with still plenty of time left. Sor Singyu, sensing that Tapales was ready for the taking, went for the kill. But Tapales, displaying a lot of heart, survived the round as Sor Singyu appeared to have gassed out.
As the sixth round started, Tapales seemed to have regained his strength and tagged Tapales with a right cross to the head that knocked Pungluang down as the the complexion of the game dramatically changed.
Tapales continued to pursue Sor Singyu in the succeeding rounds as the Thai went on the defensive. In the championship rounds, Tapales, gaining confidence, appeared to be the fresher boxer as Sor Singyu had lost wind and at the end of the 10th, Sor Singyu went to his corner with a bloodied mount. In the eleventh, Tapales caught Sor Singyu with a left-right combo to the body and a left straight the sent Sor Singyu to the canvas for good.
Tapales, now 29-2-0, with 12 stoppages, thus become the 4th reigning Filipino world champion and the 4th world champion of boxing impressario Rex 'Wakee' Salud. Sor Singyu went down to 52-4-0, 35KO.
At the end of the 10th round, Lisa Giampa had it 94-93, Gerardo Martinez 95-94 and Chris Tellez 96-91, all in favor of Tapales.
Sor Singyu suffered a broken jaw and was brought to the hospital after the fight.
Tapales, who was accompanied by his mother Maria, said after the fight "Ako i-dedicate ang akong pagdaug sa akong pamilya, sa among team ug sa atong pinanggang presidente si Digong Duterte nga mao ang akong idol. Usab sa among congresswoman nga si Angging Quibranza Dimaporo kay pinangga ra ba ko kaayo ana niya," (I dedicate my victory to my family, to my team and to our beloved president Digong Duterte who is my idol. Also to our congresswoman Angging Quibranza Dimaporo who always takes care of me.)
Tapales went down with a body shot twice in the 5th round.
Tapales throws a straight at Sor Singyu.
Tapales sent Sor Singyu to the canvas in the eleventh round for good.
Tapales celebrates after knocking out Sor Singyu.
Tapales, with his manager Rex 'Wakee' Salud, celebrates after Wednesday's victory.
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