PINOY PRIDE XX: PAGARA AND JACA EMERGE VICTORIOUS IN RING WARS
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 26 May 2013
CEBU CITY ? Fight fans inside the Pacific Ballroom of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel were treated to two scintillating twelve round battles Saturday night. Jason ?El Ni?o? Pagara held back the late surge of Aaron ?La Hoya? Herrera of Mexico to retain the WBO International light welterweight title in the main event of Pinoy Pride 20: Laban kung Laban.
Pagara opened the festivities with a quick right but Herrera opened up in the latter half of the first round with his sharp jab and quick jab-straight combinations. Pagara missed wildly in the second but landed a hard right uppercut to drop Herrera who was then pinned on the ropes. Referee Bruce McTavish initiated the count but Herrera came back to match Pagara punch for punch.
The protagonists traded hard shots at close quarters in the subsequent rounds. Herrera exhibited a cast iron jaw as he took Pagara?s best punches and came back with his own power punches.
Past the halfway mark, Herrera was bleeding from a cut on the right eyebrow but continued to fire back. The Mexican was still dangerous despite being hurt on several occasions.
In the ninth, it was Pagara?s turn to dig deep into his reserves as Herrera got stronger. Pagara?s bruise on his lower left eyelid became more prominent as Herrera was not shaken by Pagara?s left hook. Pagara turned up the heat in the eleventh, mixing his attack to the body and head. Both fighters tried to look for a homerun punch in the closing round. The fans applauded both for their effort when the final bell rang.
The scores ? Salven Lagumbay 115-112, Tony Pesons 116-111, Arnie Najera 119-108. Pagara improves to 31-2, 19KO?s while Herrera drops to his second loss against 25 wins, 17 by KO.
Genesis ?Azukal? Servania kept his unbeaten run and will be fighting in Macau this July after he disposed of Isack Junior of Indonesia at 2:15 of the third round.
Servania threw scorching combos right from the opening bell and pinned Isack on the ropes in the third and landed hard rib shots. Referee Ben Necesario reached the ten count at 2:15.
Servania is now 20W-0L, 8 KO?s, Isack drops to 20-4-2, 8 KO?s. Jimrex ?Executioner? Jaca (38-6-3, 21 KO?s) befuddled Jose Emilio Perea (29-3, 14 KO?s) of Mexico in the early going with his southpaw style and sneaky left straight. Jaca was cut on the right cheek at the end of the second but had an easy time scoring punches. Perea hung tough despite being rocked on several occasions.
Perea showed his Mexican warrior pedigree by keeping the pressure and refusing to fall;Perea also landed shots of his own. In the 9th, Jaca was deducted a point for a headbutt. Jaca?s lateral movement and pinpoint punching kept him in the lead but in the 12th, Perea dropped Jaca in the final ten seconds.
Jaca got up as referee Danrex Tapdasan initiated the count and the final bell rang. The scores ? Samson Libres 116-110, Edward Ligas 115-112 and Teddy Alivio 115-112 for Jaca who wins the vacant WBO Oriental light welterweight title.
Jessel Magsayo had an explosive pro debut, dropping Melton Sandal twice enroute to a first round KO win. Time 2:09. Ralph Lulu beat a game but outclassed Junie Salgaoal by unanimous decision. The scores read 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73.
Roland Servania won by unanimous decision over Andrew Palas in a well fought superflyweight bout. The scores of all three judges ? 39-37. Elmo Traya won by first round TKO over Jonie Villacrucis. Time 1:14, Richard Barrios needed only 45 seconds to beat Lauro Balweg and in the first bout of the evening Jonas Sultan won by first round TKO against Kazuma Ejiri of Japan. Time 1:16.
Among the faces in the crowd were the two world champions of the ALA Gym, Merlito Sabillo (WBO minimumweight) and Donnie Nietes (WBO lt.flyweight) and WBO International flyweight titlist Milan Melindo, who will challenge Juan Francisco Estrada in Macau on July 27.
Pagara victorious against Herrera.
Servania (L) made short work of Isack Junior.
Jaca connects on Perea.
Perea sends Jaca to the canvas in the final seconds of the last round.
Magsayo summersaults after knocking out Sandal.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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