TAPALES WINS WBO ASIA-PACIFIC TITLE, VALERO SHOCKS JARO
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 02 Aug 2013
CEBU CITY ? Marlon 'The Nightmare' Tapales of the RWS Gym of Cebu gave a twelve round showcase of his boxing skills against Fredirex Rodriguez of Bukidnon to capture the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight title at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.
The southpaw Tapales stunned Rodriguez in th opening round with a swift combo and continued to pummlel Rodriguez with his righ hook in the subsequent rounds. Tapales but elusive but Rodriguez remained in the fight. In the sixth, a hard left sent Rodriguez down and the bell rang as Tapales was preparing to finish him off.
Furious exchanges highlighted the next rounds, Rodriguez kept the pressure and refused to fall.But Tapales' edge in experience and high skill level made him pile up the points.
The scores 117-110, 119-108 an 119-108. The 21 year old Tapales is now 23-2, 9 KO's. The 25 year old Rodriguez drops to 11-3-1, 8 KO's. Rodriguez had previously won this belt last year but did not defend it before the deadline hence the title was vacant for this bout.
This fight was the co-main event for Thurday's BATTLE OF the UNDEFEATED which saw Tomoki Kameda of Japan dethrone Paulus Ambunda of Namiia by unanimous decision.
Gerpaul Valero crowned himself the ultimate 'Cinderella Man' with an upset ten round split decision win over former WBC world flyweight champion Sonny Boy Jaro.
Valero used his reach advantage very well, scoring with his jab and showed good lateral movement. Jaro's power was evident early in the fight and he shook Valero when he connected. In the 4th, Valero showed heart and toughness, taking Jaro's best body shots and firing back with combos of his own.
Jaro faded past the halfway mark and Valero became bolder. Jaro tried one last gasp in the final round but Valero's improving skill level pulled him through.
The scorecards read 96-94, 97-93 for Valero, one judge had it for Jaro 96-94.
Jaro (34-13-5, 24 KO's) scored one of boxing's biggest upsets last year when he dethroned Thai Pongsaklek Wonjongkam by 6th round TKO but he lost in his first title defense. Valero (15-14-3, 10 KO's) had a miserable losing record before he was tutored by trainer Brix Flores and won the super flyweight category GMA's Buhay Boksingero two years ago.
Ardie Boyose win by TKO in the seocnd round against Al Grumo. A series of hard shots sent Grumo on his back. Time 2:14.
Jack Tepora knocked down Randy Gomez twice and won by TKO in the opening round. Time 1:27.
Neil John Tabanao knocked out Charlie Pucdol in the first round. Time 1:25.
Jonathan Francisco beat Glen Canteveros by unanimous decision after six rounds. All three judges scored it -59- 55.
Joey Canoy beat Marwin Cristota by TKO in the 4th round. Canoy scored knockdowns in the 1st and 4th rounds. Tine 2:59.
Andrew Palas beat Robert Awetin by split decision. The scores ? 38-37 for Awetin, two judges 38-37 for Palas. In the opening bout, Joyjoy Pormentera won by unanimous decision against Rizaldo Sangong. All three judges had it 40-36.
The card was presented by RWS Promotions International, Kameda Promotions and will be aired on GMA TV.
Top photo: Marlon Tapales (R) and Fredirex Rodriguez in this bit of action during the bout Thursday night at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City.
Tapales adds another W on his record.
Former world champion Sonny Boy Jaro (L) loses to Jerpaul Valero (R).
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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