TANADA WINS WBO ASIA PACIFIC TITLE IN TREMENDOUS BATTLE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 08 Aug 2010
Undefeated 18 year old Allan Tanada won the WBC Asia Pacific Youth super featherweight title in a tremendous ten round battle with gallant southpaw Jose Ocampo at the Arayata Sports Complex in Tanza, Cavite late Saturday night.
The heavy rains failed to dampen the enthusiasm of fight fans who flocked to the venue where the main event and some interesting bouts on the undercard more than made up for their inconvenience in braving the stormy weather.
As the torrential rains beat down on the roof of the venue, Tanada and Ocampo beat down on each other in an action-packed war that had the fans shouting themselves hoarse as first one fighter then the other appeared to have the edge.
In the end Tanada who is ranked No. 2 in the Philippines rocked Ocampo who is ranked No. 1 with a vicious combination in the final round to earn a split decision.
Judges Romy Mananquil and Ed Nobleza had Tanada the winner 96-94 while Romy Yulo on the other hand scored the fight in favor of Ocampo by the same 96-94 margin. The Main Event TV panel?s unofficial scorecard had Tanada the winner also by a 96-94 margin.
Both fighters threw vicious power punches in the early rounds with Tanada getting the better of the exchanges as he hurt Ocampo with some short, snappy combinations that resulted in a swelling under southpaw Ocampo?s right eye.
Despite being visibly hurt Ocampo refused to back off and countered with some telling combinations and appeared to come into his own in the eighth round as Tanada seemed to tire.
However, the prot?g? of Rommel Nazario, son of the late Rod Nazario, business manager and father-figure of pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, dug deep down inside of him to stage a final flurry especially in the last round as he sent Ocampo reeling across the ring and against the ropes with a series of devastating body shots and a hard combination to the head.
Earlier in the fight referee Virgilio Garcia deducted a point from Tanada for an accidental head-butt that opened up a cut over Ocampo?s left eye but the attending physician ruled the fight could continue.
Tanada?s corner egged him to target the cut but Ocampo was a little too shifty to fall into that trap and fought his way out of trouble more than once to gamely try and turn the tide in a slam-bang bout that could well be nominated for the local ?Fight of the Year.?
In a post fight interview with ?The Main Event? television panel where well-known boxing man Moy Lainez served as special guest analyst, Tanada said that he only learned of his title shot two weeks before the fight but Lainez said he, Tanada and trainer Erickson Asilo decided to accept the challenge because Tanada had been training for sometime and had been sparring with Michael Farenas, a prot?g? of former two-division world champion Gerry Penalosa.
Plans call for Tanada to train in the US, possibly at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach and to try and make a name for himself in America.
The Tanada-Ocampo showdown sponsored by Tanduay, the No.1 Rhum will be telecast on Saturday, August 14 at 1:00 p.m. over RPN 9.
In the main supporting ten rounder WBO Asia Pacific super featherweight champion Rey Labao improved to 19-3 with 12 knockouts with a unanimous decision over-unorthodox Japyee Ignacio who dropped to 8-10-2 with 2 knockouts in a fight where Labao visibly tired in the later rounds and Ocampo fought to survive although he did catch the highly-touted southpaw Labao occasionally with some solid right straights.
All three judges, Henry Verniz, Salvador Lopez and Ricardo Canlas scored the fight for Labao by a 96-94 margin which seemed generous to Ignacio. The Main Event unofficial scorecard of Moy Lainez and this reporter had Labao winning 97-93.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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