INDON BOXERS YIELDED EARLY
Jhack Tepora, Christian Araneta all win by firstround knockouts as Indonesian boxers fail to even put up a challenge in their title shots
It didn’t take too much of an effort from them, as young Cebuano prospects Jhack Tepora and Christian Araneta closed the night with swift knockout victories against their Indonesian counterparts.
Tepora defended his World Boxing Organization (WBO) Oriental super bantamweight belt with an easy opening round stoppage over Yon Armed in the main event of Who’s Next? 4 last Saturday night at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino.
Tepora threw a vicious left to the midsection of Armed that immediately dropped him to the canvas, wincing in pain. International referee Danrex Tapdasan counted out Armed in the 1:16 mark of first round, handing Tepora his 20th straight victory.
“I didn’t expect it to be that easy. I got mad because of what he said so when I saw that he was open, then I hit his body,” said Tepora. “The team has agreed that we should fight a Mexican next.”
Tepora remained undefeated with a 20-0 slate including 15 knockouts, while Armed slumped to 14-8 with six knockouts.
Christian Araneta also handily disposed of Indonesian Demsi Manufoe with a first-round knockout. Araneta caught a clearly hesitant Manufoe coming in with a left uppercut that knocked him out cold in the 1:41 mark.
Araneta claimed the vacant WBO Oriental light flyweight belt and improved to 14-0 with 12 knockouts, while Manufoe dropped down to 11- 7 with eight knockouts.
Though his young gems came out with wins, OPSI president Pio Paulo Castillo was disappointed by the little resistance the Indonesians gave.
“The organizing team is disappointed by the outcome (of the two main fights) but overall the event was a success,” he said.
Aside from the two main fights, most of the other fights were exciting and competitive.
Salatiel Amit (10-2-2, 7 KOs) walked away with a unanimous decision over a game Renerio Arizala (13-6-1, 5 KOs). The scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92.
Cris Rosales (21-0-1, 9 KOs), one the other hand, kept his unblemished record with a second round knockout of veteran Jerry Nardo (21-11, 11 KOs).
In the undercard, Jerry Castroverde (10-4, 5 KOs) defeated club fighter Ryan Quimbo (5-142) by unanimous decision. Feljun Taneo (8-1, 4 KOs) also won against Jeffrey Stella (4-2-1, 4 KOs) by unanimous decision. Tomjune Mangubat (7-0, 7 KOs) destroyed battle-scarred veteran Marvin Tampus (27-25-3, 18 KOs) with a vicious body shot in the opening round. Mark Vicelles (4-0-1, 3 KOs) stopped journeyman Fabio Marfa (25-33-4, 12 KOs) in the fifth round. Marjun Piencenaves (2-0, 1 KO) beat Mark Anthony Ando (0-1) by unanimous decision in the show’s curtain-raiser.
“This is our first event in Waterfront. We will list down our negatives and strategize for our next event. This is not the end, there will be a lot more of Who’s Next events here in the Waterfront. The next one will be better, that is a promise,” said an optimistic Castillo. /