ALA Boxing’s AJ “Bazooka” Banal retained his WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight title by a technical decision win after eight rounds against Tyson Cave of Canada in the main card of the Pinoy Pride 7: Battle At Mactan last Saturday night at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City.
Because of continuous bleeding from a cut in Banal’s right eyebrow, ring physician Dr. Jose Unabia recommended to stop the bout. Referee Tony Pesons stopped it at the 2:23 mark of the eighth and the judges turned to their scorecards for the decision.
Judge Edgar Olalo, Edward Ligas and Danrex Tapdasan all had it in favor of Banal, 79-73, 78-74 and 78-74.
Witht he victory, Banal improved to 25-1-1 (win-loss-draw) with 19 knockout victories while Banal dropped to 15-2-0 with 5 KOs.
perfect fight
“This fight was a perfect fight for AJ because this served as his test in mind games like this,” said ALA Boxing Promotions president Michael Aldeguer. “He learned a lot from this, which he could use in the future.”
Cave stuck to his game plan to distract Banal. He resorted to pushing Banal down every time he got near.
A frustrated Banal had difficulty landing a clean shot. But Cave’s attempt at offense was also few and far in between. Banal landed a couple of hard punches but Cave persisted in holding and pushing and other extra-curricular activities.
A clash of heads in the fifth opened a cut on the corner of Banal’s right eyebrow that eventually led to the stoppage at the eighth.
“ I executed my gameplan perfectly,” said Cave. “I frustrated him and for me, I only lost one round and won all seven rounds.”
Cave went straight to the dugout after the announcement of the winner clearly frustrated about the decision. But he and his team came back moments later for some interviews. His father Robert trash-talked people beside the ring, saying his son won against Banal.
Despite their frustration, Cave managed to thank the Filipino fans for their support.
“I wanna thank the Filipino people for being great in supporting this fight,” he said. “I will come back to the Philippines if I will be given a chance again.
But boxing patron and founder of ALA Boxing Promotions and Gym Antonio L. Aldeguer wasn’t impressed with the Canadian.
‘Total comedian’
“He is a total comedian,” said Aldeguer. “He did not fight, it was clear that he was running.
Referee Pesons also complained about Cave’s unruly manner inside the ring, particularly his running and dirty tactics
“He is a coward. He did more running than punching,” said Pesons. “He fights very dirty and I always warned him about his tactics and also Banal, who had a couple of low-blows,” he added.
undercard
In the undercards, Michael ”Bruce Lee” Domingo overwhelmed Indonesian Richard “King Cobra” Samosir via a sixth round TKO.
Samosir surrendered before the seventh round started. Shortly after the stoppage, Samosir’s coach Luther Rambing left his ward due to frustration.
BraveHeart Stable’s Lorenzo Villanueva remained undefeated after beating Indonesian Eddy” The Terminator” Comaro via a first round knockout.
Villanueva’s wild right hook followed by a combination to the head and body proved to the killer blows that sent Comaro to the canvas.
Romeo Jakosalem again shocked everyone after snatching the Philippine Junior Welterweight crown from Eusebio Baluarta with a first round knockout.
Both boxers sized up in the earlier minutes of the first round but Jakosalem launched accurate punches to Baluarte. Baluarte was downed with a right hook and a follow up combination. He was able to get up but Jakosalem finished him off with another set of combination.
Albert Pagara, the younger brother of ALA Gym knockout sensation Jason Pagara, also won via a third round knockout against Jaime Alin Jr.
Pagara sowned Alin with a series of combinations at the 1:50 mark of the third round.
Jonathan Refugio, meanwhile, won unanimously an eight-round contest against Jomar Cordinillo. Jun Intor also beat Cris Leon by majority decision. In the opening bout, Ryan Maano needed only 43 seconds to dispose Yoshinobu Arai of Japan.