By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Philippine lightweight champion Fernando Montilla was knocked out in round eight of a twelve round battle for the vacant Pan Asia Boxing Association title by Somchay Nakbalee in Samutsakorn, Thailand. Two other Filipinos were also beaten on the same card.
Rodel Mangan was almost decked twice by former WBA super bantamweight champion Yoddamrong Sithyodthong but held on and eventually lost a one-sided six round decision while RP No. 8 Rud 4K Kevkatche, a one time sparring partner of Manny Pacquiao dropped a unanimous six round decision to undefeated Asian Boxing Council No. 4 super featherweight Suttisak Samaksaman.
A report from Bangkok said Nakbalee who scored a fourth round TKO over another Filipino Joselito Rivera last June 17 dominated the fight against Montilla, catching the Philippine champion with vicious body shots and solid right hooks. A stinging right to the mid-section dropped Montilla for the full count at :58 seconds of the eighth round. Nakbalee improved to 5-0-1 with 3 KO’s while the 28 year old southpaw Montilla who was coming off a sixth round KO to Japan’s Ichitaro Ishii last March 5, dropped to 30-19-3 with 21 knockouts.
Yoddamrong was the aggressor throughout against Mangan to score a lopsided 60-55 decision on the scorecard of all three judges, in the process improving his record to 43-2-1 with 18 knockouts while the badly overmatched Mangan reportedly entered the ring with a record of 7-5 with 3 KO’s. Undefeated Suttisak improved to 5-0 while Kevkatche added another loss to his string of defeats which far outnumber his wins.
