WANG LEI STOPS SABALDE IN BEIJING
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 02 Sep 2018
BEIJING,CHINA - Wang Lei of China had a dramatic professional debut in his nation?s capital when he decked Filipino Anthony Sabalde (12W-8L, 7KO?s) in the fifth round of the main bout of SECA?s 100th boxing event held at the Zi Space.
Sabalde engaged Wang on even terms in the early rounds. Wang was tentative even when he wowed the partisan crowd with his hand speed. Sabalde found his rhythm in the second round and this led to torrid exchanges.
Both took their opponent?s punches well. The southpaw Sabalde tried to close the gap but Wang?s lateral movement made him find good angles for his sharp one-two combos. Sabalde?s trainer Brix Flores implored his boxer to go to the body but Wang proved elusive.
Wang exploded with a brutal barrage in the fifth round and sent Sabalde down hard to the canvas. Wang?s hand speed enabled him to land a series of hard shots before Sabalde hit the deck. Referee Mekin Sumon signaled the KO win at the 2:15 mark.
Wang came in with impressive credentials. This writer was told that he won the China national amateur championships thrice.
This was only the second time in his career that Sabalde was stopped. Last December, he lost a unanimous decision to another Chinese, Wang Zhimin, in Guangzhou, in a WBC ABCO regional title fight.
This fight capped the two day boxing event held by SECA and celebrated as their 100th show. SECA, together with Top Rank, promoted boxing in Macao in 2013. They moved to the Chinese mainland where SECA launched a grassroots boxing program in Shanghai in 2015 in the form of a professional boxing tournament called the League of Fists. The winners of their respective divisions were crowned WBO Greater China champions. The series was renamed Major League Boxing and transferred to Jinan in 2017.
For the rest of Saturday?s undercard bouts ? Shang Pengju beat Suerge by split decision, Yang Lishan won by first round TKO against Zhang Shuo, He Jianglu got a split decision win against Hai Mengjiang, Tang Xianghui knocked out Lin Haijian in the fourth and final round, Song Qihang won by 2nd round TKO against Hu Hang and Chen Feiyang prevailed by unanimous verdict over Yu Hongzhi.
The fights were sanctioned and officiated by the Professional Boxing Commission (PBC) of China.
Photo ? Wang Lei in the dressing room after his win against Anthony Sabalde.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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