It was a good game and a hard fight but Ilonggo boxer Arnel Baconaje landed solid hits to his opponent to claim the victory in Urdaneta Cultural Sports Complex in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan.
The native of San Rafael, Iloilo showed powerful attacks earning the nods of the judges, 60-52, 60-52, 60-52 against Danny Tampipi via unanimous decision.
In the first round, Baconaje has been on fire connecting punches to Tampipi’s face. However, it was countered by the latter and connected with his blows in a few rounds but the Ilonggo fighter easily won the match with his impressive moves.
With the win, Baconaje earned his third consecutive victory, following his technical knockout triumphs over Jay Lloyd Quidlat in May and Ivor Lastrilla in July.
The 27-year-old Baconaje improved to a 14-4-0 win-loss-draw record, including 11 stoppage victories, while the 32-year-old Tampipi dropped his record to 9-13-2, including five knockout (KO) victories.
“I just want to thank the Lord for giving me strength for this match. I am also thankful to family, friends, managers, and supporters for praying for me. It is nice to be competing despite the pandemic situation,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ilonggo slugger Jules Victoriano (9-4-0, 6 KOs) failed to replicate the winning streak of Iloilo after suffering a fourth-round technical knockout to John Lawrence Ordonio (7-2-1, 4 KOs).
Victoriano, who had previously lost to Japanese boxer Yoshimitsu Kimura and fellow Filipino fighter Virgil Puton, struggled to land his punches on Ordonio until the referee halted the action in the fourth round.
Boxer Roy Sumugat outplayed fellow Negrense Glenn Bismanos via sixth-round stoppage in the supporting bout of the boxing card presented by Robert Hill of VSP Boxing and Cucuy Elorde of UKC Pro Boxing Edition.
Sumugat, a pride of Bacolod City, was aggressive from the start, giving Bismanos his combinations before finishing him off in the sixth frame with volume punches.
Sumugat won his third consecutive bout, improving his boxing record to 12-11-1 with six knockout victories, while Bismanos dropped to 6-2-4 with four stoppage triumphs.IMT
