By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Ramie Laput has lost his WBO Intercontinental super bantamweight title via a 7th round knockout at the hands of Hungary’s Zsolt Bedak in Solden, Austria.
The knockout loss of Laput who was rated No. 4 to Bedak, the former amateur standout who was ranked No. 3 in the world, marked the second setback for Kenneth Smith of the American Boxing Academy in Digos, Southern Philippines in one week.
Earlier, super flyweight Fernando Lumacad suffered a twelve round shutout against Mexico’s Juan Jose “Goofy” Montes in another terribly disappointing performance by the Filipino boxer who appeared bent on surviving against Montes who dominated throughout with flurries of combinations but never appeared to hurt Lumacad who put on another distressing performance that didn’t do justice to Filipino boxers who, epitomized by pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao are known as courageous fighters.
Lumacad had previously come under bitter criticism for failing to beat the count when he clearly could have in a fight against Mexican warrior Jorge Arce in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 27, 2009.
Smith who had high hopes for both Lumacad and Laput was obviously bitterly disappointed although because of problems obtaining a visa, Laput arrived in Solden only one day before the weigh in.
Reports from ringside said Bedak was simply too good for Laput and put him away in 2:02 in the seventh round as referee Manfred Kuechler counted out the Filipino.
With the loss Laput dropped to 38-4 with 18 knockouts while Bedak who is certain to move up in the WBO rankings remained undefeated with a record of 15-0 with 5 knockouts.
