BANAL OUTBOXES BERANZA
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 31 Aug 2009
The title of this article would seem strange to those who have religiously followed the career of AJ Banal.
The Bazooka from Ermita, Cebu City is known for mercilessly blasting his opponents. But the ALA gym southpaw showed another side of his game by using lateral movement, feints and employing defense against the tough Mexican Jose Angel Beranza (32-15-2, 25 KOs).
Banal (20-1-1, 15 KOs) launched his combinations and body shots behind a busy right jab. He circled effectively from trouble and utilized head movement to avoid being caught. I actually thought I was watching his stable mate Z Gorres.
But Beranza was tough like most Mexicans and took Banal?s best shots and continued to charge forward to land some of his own. Except for the ninth round where they bled from head butts and Banal was deducted a point for punching low, his victory was never in doubt. Beranza made one last stand in the tenth and pushed Banal down twice.
Banal easily escaped from trouble and won a unanimous ten round decision. The judges? scores were 99-92, 98-91 and 98-92. The fight was held in the undercard of the Brian Viloria-Jesus Iribe IBF jr.flyweight title bout in Hawaii where Viloria retained his crown by unanimous decision.
This is Banal?s third win this year. He has had two easy knockout wins over Nouldy Manakane of Indonesia and Mbwana Matumla of Tanzania. The 20 year old Banal needs more battle hardened opponents like Beranza so that he can mature as a fighter.
Last year, Banal was leading on the scorecards then ran out of gas and subsequently stopped by Panama?s Rafael Concepcion in the 10th round of their WBA interim superflyweight title fight in Cebu City.
If AJ continues to win, we may get to see him get another world title crack next year as a bantamweight.
Top photo: AJ 'Bazooka' Banal (L) of the Philippines connects with a left uppercut on Jose Angel Beranza of Mexico during their 10-round bantanweight bout at Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii Saturday night. Photo by Dong Secuya.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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