By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Filipino Ryan Rey Ponteras lost by a bizarre decision by the referee who was directed by officials of the Japan Boxing Commission Southwest District to declare local fighter and OPBF No. 10 Go Onaga as the winner by what Ponteras’s handlers referred to as a strange ruling called “defeat by foul” in the fourth round.

Ponteras nailed Onaga with a vicious right to the jaw in the fourth round of their scheduled eight round non-title bout, sending Onaga reeling against the ropes his back turned against Ponteras.

The Filipino went after Onaga and caught him with a flurry of punches some of which hit Onaga on the back of his head, since he had turned his back on Ponteras.

The Japanese referee promptly stepped in and stopped the fight but instead of declaring Ponteras winner by TKO he allowed Onaga a chance to sit on a chair for five minutes.

According to the Filipino fighter’s handlers JBC officials asked Onaga whether he still wanted to continue and when he said no, the boxing commission officials ruled that Ponteras lost the fight under what they termed a “defeat by foul rule” which is unheard of in boxing.

Ponteras camp led by Filipino promoter/boxing manager and trainer Aljoe Jaro, the JBC officials couldn’t provide an explanation on whether it was a disqualification, TKO or technical decision.

It was pointed out that under widely accepted boxing rules "a boxer who could not continue the fight, loses the fight."

Until the bizarre ending it was described as an action-packed bout with Ponteras chasing Onaga and dropping him in the second round which the referee ruled as a slip.

In the dying seconds of round three Onaga caught Ponteras with crisp combinations to the head and the Filipino went down for a count of eight but the Filipino got up immediately and in round four caught Onaga with a cracking right to the jaw which obviously hurt the Japanese fighter who turned his back on Ponteras as he reeled towards the ropes.

When a fighter turns his back on an opponent it is considered surrender and basis for a TKO.

Philboxing.com quoted Jaro who complained, "Ponteras should have won by TKO, instead he lost by "Defeat by Foul" ruling. This is unbelievable." 

Onaga entered the ring with a record of 19-2-2 with 14 knockouts while the unranked Ponteras had a record of 12-9-1 with 6 knockouts.