AJ Banal Clobbers Jovany Soto in TKO Win

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Undefeated WBO Asia Pacific Youth super flyweight champion AJ “Bazooka” Banal dominated his bout with Jovany Soto who is ranked No. 40 by the WBC but battled gamely even as he absorbed a bad beating in almost every round including several low blows and an elbow in round six for which Banal was cautioned by international referee Ferdinand Estrella.

Banal rocked Soto several times with solid combinations but couldn’t put the extremely well-conditioned Mexican away until the 9th round when the Filipino snapped out of what appeared to be tiredness following several good rights which Soto landed in the previous round but were lacking in power.

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Banal nailed Soto with a perfectly timed counter right hook that dropped the Mexican who beat the count but was at the receiving end of a flurry of punches forcing Estrella to call a halt at 2:19 of round nine.

Banal improved to 16-0-1 with 13 knockouts while Soto dropped to of 25-8-1 with 20 knockouts has only landed him the No. 40 spot in the WBC ratings. Banal who is ranked No. 7 by the WBA and No. 8 by the WBO in clear recognition of his abilities is expected to move up in the ratings after his easy win.