Braveheart Boys Triumphant
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 26 Apr 2009
The boxers of the Braveheart Boxing Club of North Cotabato made a triumphant return to the Cebu Coliseum winning nine out of the ten scheduled contests of the Thriller in April fight card.
Rolando ?Smooth Operator? Magbanua retained his WBO Interim bantamweight title with a third round knockout win over Wanpoadejseuk Sithsaithong of Thailand. Magbanua pressed the initiative from the opening bell and landed the more effective punches. He picked up the pace in rounds two and three until a powerful one two combination dropped the Sithsaithong for the count.
There are plans for Magbanua to get a world title shot within the year.
Edrin ?The Sting? Dapudong of the Braveheart stable wrested the WBO jr. flyweight title from veteran Bert ?The Ninja? Batawang of the SGG stable of Cebu City. The protagonists gave an electrifying display of close quarter hand to hand combat. They fought at a torrid pace unloading a wide array of power punches.
Dapudong scored a knockdown in the fifth round but the action did not slow down one bit. Batawang was knocked down again in the seventh and Dapudong was awarded the TKO victory. Score one for youth and tenacity over experience.
Richard ?Lionheart? Betos handed Korean Jonghwa Lee his first career loss with a TKO win in the eight and final round of a brutal contest. Betos landed the heavier blows in the first two rounds but Lee refused to go down and dished out his own brand of punishment. In the 4th round, Lee received a hail of more than fifteen power shots but was still on his feet. He was pinned on the roped but the Korean still fought back. In the eighth, Lee fell from a barrage of punches twice prompting the stoppage.
Featherweight Lorenzo ?Thunderbolt? Villanueva continued his knockout streak with a 3 round demolition of Thailander Viratnoi Sitsuey. Villanueva is now 14 wins, no losses with 14 KO?s.
Rommel ?The Little Assassin? Asenjo needed 34 seconds to knockout Wutisak Sithsoey also of Thailand in the 1st round of their mimimumweight bout. The Thai fighter had to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher.
Jermie Jabel of the Braveheart stable beat Rey Villar of the Omega boxing gym by 4th round TKO with an impressive display of body punching.
Braveheart?s Rey Juntilla won by first round TKO over Omega?s Jerry Pahal. Juntilla was deducted a point for a head butt causing a cut on the left side of the head of Pahal. The ring physician allowed the fight to go on but Pahal signaled he did not want to continue.
Rolando Magallano of the SGG stable beat Johnmark Dieta of the Braveheart stable by split decision in six rounds. The scorecards : 58-55, 58-55 for Magallano and 57-56 for Dieta who was the only Braveheart boxer to lose his bout.
Braveheart boy Rogelio Canete won by unanimous decision over Andy Seneres of the RWS Stable in a four round flyweight bout. Seneres was knocked down in the first and third rounds. The score cards read 38-36 all for Canete.
In the first bout of the evening, Braveheart?s Randy Lagos beat Omega?s John Paul Colon by unanimous decision in four rounds of a rough and tumble superflyweight contest. The score cards of the three judges all read 38-37.
This fight card had two firsts for Philippine boxing: Live internet coverage and the use of Cebu made TIBAY gloves.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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