TRONGCO BEATEN IN IBO TITLE BID BUT WINS PRAISE FOR GUTSY PERFORMANCE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 17 Feb 2013
Filipino Renan Trongco was beaten by a twelve round unanimous decision in his bid for the IBO straw-weight title held by South Africa?s Hekkie Budler but won praise for a gutsy performance at Emperors Palace near Kempton Park on Sunday morning Manila Time.
Two of the three judges had Budler the winner by a margin of 117-111 while the third judge had the champion ahead by a wider 118-110 margin.
Super Sport reported that Budler?s opponent from the Philippines ?contributed much to an excellent, highly entertaining bout.?
The report said the 24-year-old Budler, his hair dyed purple, pink and yellowish, showed off a collection of tattoos as well as blistering hand speed as the aggressive little southpaw Filipino demanded respect.
Super Sport said Trongco slipped some sharp lefts through Budler?s defense in the early rounds, refusing to back off when the champion launched his trade-mark double-barreled attacks.
Trongco was defiant even as Budler nailed him with several solid shots in the sixth round but there were signs that the Filipino southpaw was slowing down. However, Trongco was far more aggressive in the seventh round and had Budler under pressure.
Not known as a big puncher Budler resorted to effective counter-punching to get well ahead on the judges scorecards by the end of the eighth round and didn?t get rattled when the hard-hitting Trongco went for a knockout in the final round.
Budler ended with a flourish that had Trongco in trouble in the final 20 seconds even as the South African media said the Filipino challenger ?deserved praise for a commendable performance after shedding 4 kg (over 8 pounds) to make the weight limit.
Budler, who improved his record to 23 wins, including six knockouts, and one defeat, had won the vacant IBO title in September 2011 when he beat another Filipino Michael Landero on points. In his last title defense he scored a unanimous twelve round decision over former IBF minimum weight champion Florante Condes, also from the Philippines. With the loss the 24 year old Trongco dropped to 12-4, with 8 knockouts.
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