MANDATORY challenger Marlon “The Nightmare” Tapales fulfilled a lifelong dream as he scored a sensational 11th-round knockout of World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Pungluang Sor Singyu to give the Philippines its fourth world title in an explosive showdown in the historic city of Ayutthaya, some 85 kilometers north of Bangkok.
The other Filipino champions are WBO light flyweight Donnie Nietes, the longest-reigning Filipino world champion; International Boxing Federation light flyweight champion Johnreil Casimero and WBO super bantamweight and five-division world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire.
“It was one of the best fights I’ve seen in Thailand,” WBO official fight supervisor Leon Panoncillo, who earlier predicted a good fight, told the Manila Standard.
Panoncillo said Pungluang dropped Tapales twice in the fifth round, but the Filipino rose from the canvas and came back to drop the Thai in the very next round.
With the Thai champion fading in going for a knockout, Tapales capitalized and went after Pungluang, the two-time world champion, who first won the vacant title with a ninth-round knockout of AJ “Bazooka” Banal at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“It was a very exciting and very competitive fight,” said Panoncillo. “Tapales won “impressively.
The Filipino, according to the WBO official, came back after he saw Pungluang tiring out and from then on, it was all Tapales before he knocked out the Thai champion at 37 seconds into the 11th round.
At the time of the stoppage, all the judges had Tapales ahead, namely Lisa Giampa (94-93), Gerardo Martinez (95-94) and the third official (96-91).
The small Filipino delegation, led by promoter Rex “Wakee” Salud, erupted in a celebration that silenced the usually noisy Thai fans in a hot and humid afternoon.
Tapales, who had to shed off one pound before the official weigh-in on Tuesday, connected with some solid combinations, although he seemed tense as a smirking, highly confident Pungluang connected with his own counter-punches.
At the start of the sixth round, Tapales, who had been forced to travel for hours to get to the venue and earlier at the official press conference appeared to have regained his strength, nailed Pungluang with a right hook to the head that dropped the champion and turned the tide of the close and explosive fight.
Tapales, who was also nurtured by brothers Gerry and Dodie Boy Penalosa in training, began to stalk Pungluang, who went on the defensive even as the Filipino gained in confidence .
With the win, Tapales improved to 29-2-0, with 12 knockouts, while Pungluang dropped to 52-4-0, 35 KO.
Trainers Fernando Ocon and Brix Flores, who both predicted that Tapales would win, were elated.
Flores, for one, after claiming Tapales is the best boxer in the country today, was vindicated.