STORY OF PHILIPPINE BOXING PART XXI: FRANK CEDEÑO, WORLD WBC AND LINEAL FLYWEIGHT CHAMPION
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 25 Apr 2020
Frank Cedeño.
Frank Cedeño, born on March 16, 1958 in Talisay City, Cebu, won the World Boxing Council world flyweight title.
He is one of the few world champions who lost in his professional debut. Ray de los Santos outscored him in an eight round decision on November 20, 1976. They fought to a draw three months later in a rematch.
He drew with Eduardo Davono in his second bout and got his first win in his third fight by a 6th round TKO over Pete Arda.
Cedeño became Philippine flyweight champion in his 23rd pro fight by winning a 12 round decision over Melchor Digsi in Baguio City.
He defended his Philippine flyweight crown against Siony Carupo by decision, Lito Cortes by 7th round TKO, Ramon Chan by a draw, and Allan Makitoki by 6th round TKO.
On June 27, 1982, he failed in his bid for the Orient Pacific Boxing Federation flyweight championship, losing to South Korean Hong Soo Yang by decision in Seoul.
On September 27, 1983, Cedeño became world champion by stopping defending WBC flyweight titlist Charlie Magri of Britain at 2 minutes, 33 seconds of the sixth round at the Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom.
Cedeño sent Magri crashing to the canvas three times before Italian referee Angelo Poletti stopped the scheduled 12-round bout. Magri started the bout with hard body shots and was able to shake Cedeño three times. However, Cedeño recovered to retaliate with punishing two-fisted attacks to deck Magri.
In the sixth round, Cedeño unleashed a combination of punches to Magri's face followed by lefts and rights to the champion's body. A left hook connected to his vulnerable jaw ended Britain's only world champion that time. Cedeño also became the world lineal flyweight champion.
Unfortunately, Cedeño lost his WBC title in his first defense against Koji Kobayashi in his hometown in Tokyo, Japan. Cedeño was leading on all three scorecards when he went down three times in the second round prompting the referee to stop the fight and proclaim a new champion.
He moved on to win ten straight fights, all but one, via stoppages. These include wins over South Korean Chong-Suk Kim by 7th round TKO, Japanese Makuto Taguchi by 3rd round TKO, Mexican Hugo Partida by unanimous decision, and Thai Yuenyong Sithprasong by 5th round KO.
This enabled him to be recognized by the WBC for another shot at the world title this time at the heavier super flyweight division.
Cedeño fought Mexican WBC super flyweight champion Gilberto Roman in his hometown in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. He failed in his quest for a second title by unanimous decision.
He fought four more fights, winning two over Poker Perigrino and Ernie Cataluna and losing twice to Thailand's Thanomsak Sithbaobay and South Korea's Young Chun Min.
Cedeño retired in 1988 with a total fight of 56, winning 43 with 23 KOs, losing 10 with a single KO loss only to Kobayashi, and drawing 3 per Boxrec.com.
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