Pinoy Pagara exacts revenge

Jason Pagara made true his promise to knockout his former Mexican tormentor, scoring a vengeful sixth-round stoppage of Rosbel Montoya that capped a masterful sweep of the Filipino fighters over their visiting opponents in the Pinoy Pride XV: The Rematch last Saturday night at the Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Moments after the one-sided fight, Montoya demanded a second rematch, something that he might get.

“That’s good. He (Montoya) just gave us an idea. We’ll try to discuss that,” said ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer.

Aldeguer said there are still three slots for the 17th installment of the Pinoy Pride series slated Oct. 20 in Mall of Asia Arena, where AJ “Bazooka” Banal will take on Thailand’s Pungluang Sor Singyu  for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight.

Montoya was nowhere near the kind of fighter that dominated Pagara in their first meeting in September last year, where he netted a unanimous decision win.

As a result, Pagara (29-2, 18 KOs) had a walk in the park in avenging his previous loss to Montoya and snatching the WBO International light welterweight title in the process.

Pagara was on target right from the get go, hitting Montoya at will with solid combinations to the head and body.

Bone-cracking body shots downed Montoya twice in the first round. Montoya survived the early beatings but was again sent to the floor twice in the third.

Pagara continued to press on before he finally stopped Montoya for good in the sixth, connecting on solid hooks to the head and body that sent the Mexican boxer down on his knees.

Referee Danrex Tapdasan counted Montoya out in the 1:41 mark of the sixth.

Michael Lopez, a Cebu-based Mexican-American who served as one of the cornermen of the Mexican boxers, said Montoya injured his left arm that forced him to quit.

At the locker room, Montoya complained that he could no longer move his left arm because of a left tricep muscle pain.

“Pagara put up a better performance compared to our first fight,” said Montoya through Lopez.

Montoya admitted that the body shots hurt him.

“I was surprised because he worked a lot on the body. I want a rematch and I promise to prepare harder for that,” said Montoya, who now has a record of 36W-5L-1 D, 30 KOs.

Pagara said following the game plan to the letter was the key.

“I really targeted his body,” said Pagara. “In our first meeting, I knew I hurt him with body shots. I was ill-prepared at that time but I knew I still hurt him with body shots. So tonight, I really went for the body.”

“I’ve never seen him so focused. With this win, Pagara showed that he can perform when his focus is 100 percent. I saw how hard he trained and I was very confident that he can beat Montoya,” said Aldeguer.

PINOY SWEEP

Adding to the Filipino sweep were the victories of Genesis “Azukal” Servania and the comebacking Jimrex “Executioner” Jaca.

Servania (19W-0L, 6 KOs) captured the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific Super Bantamweight title after punishing Mexican Jorge “El Feroz” Pazos (21W-4L, 14 KOs) via unanimous decision.

Pazos complained of a severe headache and vomiting after the bout and was assisted by the ring physician to the locker room. Pazos was declared safe but he was advised to go through another check up.

Jaca, meanwhile, proved there’s more boxing left in him as  he knocked out the taller Angel “Arcangel” Martinez (18W-3L-1D, 13 KOs) in the last second of the final round of their eight-round showdown.

Jaca hit Martinez with accurate combinations and hooks to score the knockout.

The 18-year old Prince Albert Pagara also won over Alvin Makiling of Bukidnon via unanimous decision.

Prospect Mark Vincent Bernaldez came out victorious against Joash Apericio of Bukidnon in their six-round showdown.

Juren Labordo won against Powell Balaba via unanimous decision while crowd darling Jojo “Flash” Intor met his match in  Takaoki Naoma but still emerged a 38-36, 38-36 and 39-35 winner.

In the opening bout, Bacolod’s Jp Artieda scored a unanimous decision victory over Bohol’s Hector Rojoca.