Pagara KOs Bantigue in ALA-Cobra boxing

Albert Pagara of the ALA Gym preserved his unbeaten run after scoring a third round technical knockout victory over veteran Lowie Bantigue in the main event of last Sunday’s ALA-Cobra “Tunay na Lakas” Sinulog Boxing at the Gaisano Country Mall Carpark.

Pagara, one of the rising fighters of ALA Gym and nicknamed “Prince” knocked Bantigue down in rounds one and two before finishing the job in round three.

A series of one-two combinations sent Bantigue down face first. He tried to get up but was on wobbly legs prompting referee Teddy Alivio to stop the fight at 25 seconds of the 3rd round.

The fight card, witnessed by an overflow crowd, was offered free to the public and was held in line with the celebration of the Sinulog festival.

The 17-year-old Pagara remained unbeaten in registering his 10th pro win including eight by knockout while the 27-year-old Bantigue entered this bout as a 44-fight veteran (21W-16L-7D,12 KOs) and has fought for Oriental and local titles while Pagara was fighting as a 10-rounder for the first time.

Meanwhile, in the undercard, Welbeth Loberanis gave Jonathan Ricablanca a nifty boxing lesson for 10 rounds en route to scoring a wide unanimous decision victory. The scorecards read: 98-92, 98-92 and 100-90.

Melvin Gumban beat Joash Apericio by unanimous decision in an entertaining eight-round brawl. The scores: 77-75, 77-75 and 78-74.

Roma Rate won by TKO against Rowel Garcia at the end of the second round. Garcia decided not to continue fighting for the third round after receiving a series of hard punches while Mark Vincent Bernaldez punished Royroy Sumugat with hard left hooks to the body and head for four rounds before Sumugat eventually decided to call it a night in the fifth round awarding the TKO victory to Bernaldez.

Juren Labordo won by first round TKO against Taos Basar. Labordo pinned Basar in the blue corner and unloaded brutal combinations prompting Referee Ben Necessario to halt the bout at the 2:04 mark while Rey Morales beat Renante Suacasa by unanimous decision after 4 rounds. The scorecards read: 39-37 for all three judges.

The event was opened by a number of entertaining amateur bouts while the professional fights were supervised by Glen Agena and Celso Miranda of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB)-Cebu.

This card is part of the continuing partnership of ALA Promotions and Cobra Energy Drink.