By Rey Danseco
FEATHERWEIGHT Rey Labao gained experience while flyweight Drian Francisco tested his skills when they both prevailed over Korean fighters in different bouts on Friday night (Thursday morning in the United States) at the Cavite Coliseum in Bacoor, Cavite, Philippines.
Labao (11-0, 7 KOs) started strong in the early rounds and got the edge in the final three rounds to earn a unanimous decision win, in an action packed battle over former Korean Boxing Council (KBC) bantamweight champ Sung-Kuk Kim (9-3-1, 5 KOs) in the main event of “Strike for Honor Philippines v. Korea”.
All three judges scored the bout in favor of the 22-year old Filipino lefty, 95-93 with one-point deduction each against both boxers.
Referee Bruce McTavish penalized Labao a point after Kim cut himself in the forehead when the curly-haired visitor accidentally initiated a clash of heads after missing a straight right in round 6.
The blood from the Korean fighter’s cut dripped down the right side of his face from there on, but still managed to win rounds six and seven where Labao was obviously exhausted.
Kim started to size up Labao in round 5 when he landed three punches to the face, forcing the Filipino to hold him for the first time in the bout. Kim also caught his foe with hammering powerful shots in the corner as his late surge in round 9 where Labao controlled most of the minutes.
Francisco, a 5-foot-5 stylish southpaw with power in both hands, stopped Jung-Jung Soo at 1:18 of the fifth of scheduled 8-round flyweight fight.
Making his second scheduled 8-round fight, Francisco (7-0, 4 KOs) displayed excellent lateral movements as he peppered Soo (4-3, 2 KOs) with jabs and powerful combinations to the head and body in each round.
Though the 5-foot-3 Korean remains absorbing the flurry of punches, his cornerman Hwang In Kyu saved him for sustaining a possible injury by throwing in the towel. Referee Virgilio Garcia immediately stopped the fight at 1:18 of the 5th round.
In the only women’s action of the bight, KBC women’s flyweight champ Lee Hwa Won (6-1, O KO) captured the WBE Asia pacific lady flyweight title with a controversial unanimous decision win in a rare four-round with two-minute per round over Elsie Quizon (0-2), of San Pedro town in Laguna province.
McTavish called the decision “disgusting” as a neophyte judge named Salvador Lopez served as the lone scoring official at ringside.
“The Korean only took the first round and Quizon landed more telling blows in the last three rounds, so there’s no reason for the Filipino boxer to loss,” said McTavish, one of the most competent boxing officials in the world from the Philippines.
Merciless featherweight Michael Fariñas (11-2-1, 8 KOs) took a TKO win in the fifth round against Jerome Arsolon (9-7, 8 KOs)
Fariñas out-punched the game Arsolon in their heated exchanged of leathers from the first bell.
The 30-year old Arsolon hurt his right hand in the second round until he injured it after hitting the defensive left arm of the Sorsogon-native in 2:29 of round 5. Arloson dropped in both knees as sign of submission.
Having a swollen left eye, Arsolon also absorbed two low blows, which referee Garcia declared unintentional. Obvious intentional headbutting from the very frustrated Arsolon cost him a point in round 5.
The gutsy super bantam Longino Dimaano (4-1, 1 KO) was able to cut the distance and work inside to earn a split decision win in 8-round fight against previously unbeaten Hilsan Berba (3-1-1, 2 KOs).
Southpaw Jason Egera (3-1, 3 KOs) scored his third straight stoppage win with the quickest ending-fight of the evening. He knocked out William Longcanaya (0-2) with countering left uppercut to the midsection.
