Bacon Stops Singwancha, Canillas Beats Gym
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Promising James Bacon and colorful Larry “Bon Jovi” Canillas scored handsome wins over worthy Thai opponents at the Waterfront Hotel ballroom, Thursday night.
Bacon (13-1-0, 8 KO’s) was tested by Thailand’s Thitichon Singwancha (12-3, 4 KO’s) in a junior lightweight bout scheduled for ten rounds . But the hard-hitting Filipino pounded Thitichon with thundering shots to the body and although the Thai occasionally fought back with some solid shots of his own, the 19 year old Bacon had too much power and eventually dropped the Thai in round four to score a TKO at 55 seconds of the round.
Canillas (9-2, 7 KO’s) , known for his punishing right hand and his aggressive style, went after Petch Twins Gym (8-3-1, 6 KO’s) from the first bell and overpowered the Thai who tried to use his height and reach advantage to stay out of trouble while flicking a left jab into the face of Canillas as he came forward.
However, the moment Canillas caught him with his patented big shots the end was near and it came at 1:27 of the second round. In other bouts on the exciting card presented by Smart Sports in cooperation with the famed ALA Gym, Jayson Inso scored a flash knockdown in round one to win a four round decision over Jonel Gadapan with all three judges scoring it 38-37.
Popular Jojo “Flash Mongo” Intor who entertained the fans in a welcome appetizer that combined some effective boxing with a touch of clowning, scored a four round majority decision over Romnick Hoybia even though Intor was cut from an accidental clash of heads in round two.
Although Hoybia lost two points on deductions for the head-butts, one of the judges saw the fight an even 37-37 while the two other judges gave it to Intor 39-35 and 38-36.
In a novel idea of mixing a couple of amateur bouts in a predominantly pro boxing card, four boxers from the ABAP national training pool saw action. In the women’s bout Irish Magno used a jab effectively to overcome the shorter but more aggressive Jane Recaido while in the men’s bout Adones Cabalquinto had too much power and out-punched the younger Jimmy Vallares to also win on points.
Elementary school kids from Mandaue City kicked off the fight card and showed some exceptional talent. The kids will represent Mandaue in the national amateur championships being hosted in Palawan by Mayor Edward Hagedorn, a big supporter of both amateur and professional boxing.
A colorful Sinulog dance number by students from APAS National High School won rave reviews from the foreigners at the fights and portrayed the colorful nature of the Sinulog festival which was ruined by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena who, at the last minute revoked previously extended permits for street parties and similar events in parking lots even if they were in private properties and which had become an integral part of the annual celebrations.