AJ Banal Defeats Luis Perez By Disqualification in Seven

By Mark Vester

At the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City, Philippines, bantamweight AJ Banal (23-1-1, 18KOs) defeated Luis Perez (26-5, 17KOs) by way of a seven round disqualification. The scores at the time of the DQ were 59-55, 59-55 and 60-54 in favor of Banal.

For the first six rounds, Banal was outhustling and hitting Perez with fast power shots. In the seventh, Perez was staging a decent rally. Banal held Perez to break his rhythm. As the referee was breaking them, Perez nailed him with a right hand that sent Banal down and almost out. Banal was unable to continue and the ref had no choice but to issue the DQ call.

Junior middleweight Mark Jason Melligen (20-2-0, 14KO) returned to fight in his country for the first time after eight fights in the United States, by stopping Bladimir Hernandez (18-4-0 16KO) in three rounds. Melligen dropped him twice in the third with body shots.

Lightweight prospect Jason Pagara (24-1, 13KOs) stopped Sapapetch Sor Sakaorat (20-7) in the second round after three scored knockdowns.

Super bantamweight Ramie Laput (39-4, 17KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over Larry Canillas (14-3, 12KOs). The scores were 78-74, 77-75 and 78-75.