Battle of the Best Bantamweights Fight Report
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 22 Feb 2009
WBO bantamweight champ Gerry Penalosa won by unanimous decision over German Meraz of Mexico in a ten round non-title fight held at the Cebu Coliseum Saturday night. Penalosa (54W-6L-2D) pressed the action early but Meraz (24W ? 8L ? 2 D) was more content in jabbing and back pedalling.
The right handed Mexican circled to his left avoiding the southpaw Penalosa's power left hand. But Gerry caught him with a left straight that blasted Meraz through the ropes in the second round. Meraz got up and Gerry showboated at the end of the round trying a windmill bolo punch.
Meraz's attempts to fight back were few and far in between. Action was briefly stopped in the 5th as Meraz was hit with a low blow. Penalosa went into second gear in the 6th and his left repeatedly hit it's target. Meraz was noe bleeding from the nose. Meraz went into survival mode and was just content in running and staying out of harms way. The scorecards read: 100- 89, 100-89, 99-90
Rolando ?Smooth Operator? Magbanua ( 12W ? 0 L) scored a devastating 6th round TKO over Mexico's Jose Angel Cota (8 W ? 4L) for the WBO interim Oriental bantamweight title. Magbanua was not only smooth but stinging as he was the aggressor all throughout and landed crisp combinations. The Mexican was bleeding from a cut on the right eyebrow in the 3rd. He tried to fight back but became the recipient of a frightening amount of punishment until his cornermen capitulated and waved the towel at 1:08 of the 6th.
Jundy ?Pretty Boy? Maraon ( 13W ? 0 L -1 D) won the WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight title with a stunning 3rd round KO win over Jason Egera. The defending champ Egera was the recipient of left straights from the southpaw Maraon and was bleeding on the left eyebrow in the first. Egera was knocked out cold in the 3rd with a powerful left and had to be resuscitated in the ring.He was carried away on a stretcher but was seen sitting and responsive in the locker room minutes later.
Glenn ?The Rock? Poras scored a first round TKO win over Daothon Sissuey of Thailand. The Thai was also resuscitated in the ring after the KO but was able to recover and walk on his own after a few minutes.
In the supporting bouts Rommel ?Littel Assassin? Asenjo won by 3rd round TKO over Marlon Villanueva who turned his back and quit in the ring.
Jermie Jabel won an 6 round unanimous decision over Marvin Talisic. Thee scorecards read: 59-55, 58-56, 59-55.
Jose Ocampo beat Glenn Gonzales by unanimous decision. Ocampo outlasted his opponent in an exciting give and take battle. The scorecards: 77-73, 76-74, 77-73.
Edrin Dapudong won over Ruther del Castillo in an 8 round flyweight battle. The scores: 79-73, 78-74, 79-73.
Lorenzo Villanueva won by 2nd round TKO over Joy Pol. The southpaw thunderbolt from No. Cotabato now has record of 13-0 with 13 KO's.
Richard Betos beat Mike Romulo by 6th round TKO. Israel Salud and Jerry Pajal battled to a split draw. Salud scored a first round knockdown but Pahal scored a knocdown in the dying seconds of the final round. Scores: 57-56 Salud, 57-55 Pajal, 56-56 all.
In the first bout of the day Jestoni Pepito won by split decision over Edison Serrano. Scores: 38-37 Pepito 38-37 Serrano, 38-37 Pepito.
Post fight analysis:
The Braveheart boxers staged a successful ?invasion? in the boxing capital of the country, Cebu City. They now have two regional WBO belts and have managed the impress the Cebu Coliseum crowd. There were two hair raising moments in the fight card involving two fighters being resuscitated in the ring.
Jason Egera was already out before he hit the canvas and fell face first courtesy of Maraon's power left. He was initially unresponsive and had to be attended by the ring physician and emergency medical technicians. He was carried on a stretcher out of the ring. The Thailander Sissuey was the recipient of a barrage of punches from Glen Porras and also had to be attended but managed to walk out of the ring. These are grim reminders of the risks these boxers face in the ring. For that one reason, they deserve our respect.
If this is really Gerry Penalosa's final fight in the Philippines, then too bad. He did try his best to initiate the action against an opponent who was more content running. Even if you go by the analogy that Gerry is at his worst when the opponent is running away from him, I would have preferred a more aggressive foe to mimic Juan Manuel Lopez. But this could also be considered a good ten round work out.
Whatever happens to Gerry this April he already has a place in Philippine sports history and in the hearts of Pinoy boxing fans.
Top photo: Jundy Maraon (L) celebrates as his opponent Jason Egera lay down on the canvas unconcious. Photo by King Catriz.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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