SONSONA WINS WBO INTERNATIONAL TITLE WITH SPECTACULAR 3RD ROUND KNOCKOUT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 23 Feb 2014
Former world super flyweight champion Marvin Sonsona lived up to his nickname ?Marvelous? with a spectacular one-punch, 3rd round knockout of former world super bantamweight champion Akifumi ?Sugar? Shimoda of Japan before jubilant Filipino fans at the Cotai Arena of the plush Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino in Macau.
The 23 year old Sonsona sized up the world No.2 ranked featherweight Shimoda before setting him up with a right straight and then unleashing a vicious, perfectly timed left uppercut that sent Shimoda crashing on his back to the canvas where he lay still for some five minutes before attending ring doctors helped him to his corner.
Popular ring announcer Lupe Contreras said ?this bout comes to a sudden and dramatic end with an official time of 1 minute and 17 seconds of round No. 3. Your winner and now the WBO International featherweight champion, from the Philippines Marvin 'Marvelous' Sonsona."
After the announcement WBO Asia Pacific vice president Leon Panoncillo placed the belt around the champion?s waist as a beaming promoter Sammy Gello-ani, his partner and international matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz, members of Team Sonsona and trainer Aljoe Jaro celebrated the victory although Sonsona appeared subdued because he was worried that Shimoda was badly hurt.
Shimoda who was the slightly more aggressive fighter in the first two rounds buckled when Sonsona caught him with a left straight in round two but didn?t appear to be hurt.
Instructed by his corner led by trainer Jun Agrabio and manager Dr. Rajan Yraola, the lanky southpaw upped the tempo in the third round before unleashing a dynamite left uppercut that knocked Shimoda out cold with referee Atty. Danrex Tapdasan not even bothering to count.
In a post fight interview the newly crowned WBO International featherweight champion told the Manila Standard that he would rest for one week before returning to the gym to build on the momentum of his victory on Top Rank?s ?Ring of Gold? fight card and was looking ahead to a world title shot after one more fight.
Shimoda entered the ring coming off five straight wins and a draw after his stunning 7th round knockout at the hands of Rico Ramos in 2011 when he was in control and was leading on the scorecards of all three judges, losing his WBA super bantamweight title in the process.
?Marvelous? Marvin Sonsona weighed in at 125.6 pounds while Shimoda tipped the scales at 125.8 pounds.
Sonsona had told the Manila Standard shortly after the weigh-in that It will be a good fight but added ?I will try to go for a knockout if I get the opening but I am ready to go twelve rounds if I have to.?
The lanky southpaw from General Santos City trained hard for this fight even though the one month period seemed a little too short but he told us he was totally ready to prove he is back as a title contender.
ABS-CBN Sports & Action, the revamped Studio 23 channel will telecast the fight at 12:00 noon on Sunday.
WBO Vice-President Leon Panoncillo (L) and Referee Danrex Tapdasan raise the hands of Marvin Sonsona (C) after Sonsona's spectacular knockout win over Shimoda.
Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank.
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