VINCE PARAS PASSES STIFF TEST (PHOTOS)
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 11 Jun 2017
Mandaue City ? Teenage General Santos City sensation Vince Paras passed the stiffest test of his young career so far when he knocked down and then outpointed solid competitor Jimboy Haya of Cebu City over 10 rounds at the Mandaue Sports Complex here Saturday night and went home with the WBO Asia-Pacific Youth light flyweight title and an entry into the world rankings that go with it.
Paras, 18, fighting away from his home base in Mindanao for the first time and came into the backyard of his opponent, immediately sent everyone a message when he knocked down Haya in the second round with a vicious right left combination to Haya's head. Haya appeared badly hurt and struggled to beat the count. Obviously groggy, Haya resorted to holding to survive the round. Haya recovered in the third and tried to bring the fight to his younger opponent, but Paras, showing good bounce and defensive posture, was always ready to pounce on his advancing foe.
The fight progressed into a battle of attrition with Haya, now displaying solid defense and effective aggression, tried to score with his combinations as Paras tried to counter with hard and sometimes wild punches. It was clear that Haya felt Paras's punches and in the 9th round Haya was staggered with a Paras left hook. Paras, who boxed beyond six rounds for the first time, appeared winded a little bit but acquainted himself very well as the fight came to a close.
All three judges, Salven Lagumbay, Edward Ligas and Edgar Olalo had identical scores of 96 to 93 in favor of Paras.
On a side note, there was a problem with a slippery canvas in the painted area that prevented both boxers to perform in their optimum as they always tried to adjust their movements to not slip and fall down.
Photos by Levi Deresas / PhilBoxing.com.
Paras connects with right on Haya.
Haya tastes Paras's power.
Paras basks in glory with his first regional belt.
Paras made his debut on July 11, 2015 in General Santos City when he was 16 years old against Romeo Garde which he knocked out in the first round. He fought around his home base, padding his record, against upstarts like himself which he toppled one by one until he fought in Cagayan de Oro City, around 300 kilometers north of General Santos, in his last fight against Michael Camelion which he also stopped in the 1st round.
With a highly convincing win over a highly regarded foe in Jimboy Haya, Paras, now 11-0 with 9KOs, and displaying a good boxing ability with power in both hands, has a solid future and should be a fighter to watch in the Philippine boxing scene.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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