BATTERED SABILLO LOSES WBO WORLD TITLE BY 10TH ROUND TKO TO RODRIGUEZ
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 23 Mar 2014
Although there were moments when he sought to live up to his nickname and fight like a tiger, WBO minimum weight champion Merlito ?Tiger? Sabillo was eventually battered into submission by 20 year old Francisco Rodriguez Jr of Mexico and lost by a 10th round TKO before a wildly cheering hometown crowd in Monterrey, Sunday, Manila Time.
It was a shocking result for the previously undefeated Sabillo who couldn?t cope with the hand-speed, the power and the relentless aggression of Rodriguez who fought to a well crafted fight plan that completely baffled Sabillo.
Rodriguez was a vastly improved fighter from the No. 9 ranked WBO challenger who lost by a 7th round TKO to unbeaten WBA light flyweight champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez and as early as the opening round proved he was capable of taking the power shots of Sabillo.
Two knockdowns in the second round set the tone of the fight after Rodriguez nailed Sabillo with a couple of cracking right straights that stunned the former street fighter from Bacolod City in the opening round.
Rodriguez often drove Sabillo to the ropes and connected with some vicious right straights, hooks and shots to the body which sapped the energy of the Filipino who was reported to have his best training camp ever and stepped into the ring ripped and ready.
But it was Rodriguez who set a furious pace from the opening bell as he ended fairly close rounds with a flurry in the dying seconds to steal rounds that may have gone to Sabillo.
It was clear that the corner of Sabillo was at a loss on how to counter the aggressive Mexican youngster and after trainer Edito ?Ala? Villamor gave Sabillo one last round to try and turn the fight around, he wisely stepped onto the ring apron as Sabillo was being battered and asked referee Eddie Claudio to call it off.
The time was 1:50 of the 10th round and although Sabillo protested the stoppage in the mildest manner he knew his crown was lost.
Sabillo had earlier complained that he couldn?t see in his left eye which was swollen and showed signs of a cut which obviously hampered his vision especially against the deadly right straight of Rodriguez who, with the win, improved to 14-2 with 10 knockouts while Sabillo who suffered his first setback dropped to 23-1-1 with 12 knockouts.
Atty. Ed Tolentino and this reporter who covered the fight for ABS-CBN Sports and Action had Rodriguez winning every round although Sabillo did have his moments in rounds four and five, but not at all decisively.
The courageous Filipino fighter was taking a bad beating but jumped off his stool at the start of every round, hoping he could connect with one single punch similar to that which helped him win the title from fancied Luis De La Rosa of Colombia and sealed a 9th round knockout over another Colombian Jorlie Estrada in his first title defense with one crushing left hook to the ribs.
But Rodriguez who was in superb condition took Sabillo?s best shots and hardly winced.
ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer told the Manila Standard ?No excuses. You got to give credit to Rodriguez. Sabillo is a guy who overachieved and became a world champion because of his heart and guts and we learned a lot in the fight against No. 1 contender Carlos Buitrago (which ended in a split draw.)?
He said Sabillo was ?well conditioned but it was a disappointing loss and there?s nothing I could say. Rodriguez showed his power and he was the better man.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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