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Philippines, 14 Feb 2026 |
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WHO?S NEXT? 3: A NIGHT OF KO?S AND HIGH DRAMA By Rene Bonsubre, Jr. PhilBoxing.com Sat, 03 Dec 2016  MANDAUE CITY, CEBU - Jhack Tepora may have changed his moniker from ?Golden Boy? to Jack ?Sparrow?, but he did not behave like a meek seed-eating bird on fight night. Tepora executed like a vicious bird of prey, and swooped down on the hapless Galih Susanto, sending him down with a right hook in the third round and punished him with a mix of head and body shots in the subsequent rounds, and with two knockdowns in the fifth, Referee Tony Pesons decided that he had seen enough. Tepora is the first boxer to stop the Indonesian Susanto, who has gone the distance in his previous losses, including one to Marlon Tapales two years ago. Tapales, who fights out of the RWS gym, is now the reigning WBO world champion in the bantamweight division. He was at ringside and was introduced to the crowd prior to the start of the main event. Tepora, who is franchise boxer of the Omega gym of Cebu, remains unbeaten at 19-0,14KO?s and added the WBO Oriental super bantamweight title to his collection of regional belts. He previously garnered the WBO Youth Asia-Pacific and WBF Asia-Pacific super bantamweight belts. It will be interesting to see how his career progresses now that Omega?s ?WHO?S NEXT?? boxing series is getting some attention from the fans here in island known as the boxing capital of the Philippines.  Kenny Demecillo and Christian Araneta had contrasting endings in their respective fights but both showed their uncanny recuperative powers. Demecillo was defending his WBF Asia-Pacific bantamweight title against Jestoni Autida. Demecillo, a known all-action tough guy, showed that he has learned defensive basics, like slipping punches and blocking. This enabled him to build an early lead. That was until he got tagged with a hard punch and his brawler instincts took over. He came back charging for more but was on the verge of being stopped after he was reeling from hard shots and sought refuge on the ropes in the fifth and sixth rounds. An issue with loose tape on the gloves of Autida gave Demecillo precious seconds to recover. Autida blew a golden opportunity at this point but credit goes to Demecillo for keeping his wits. The ninth round saw both boxers taking turns pummeling each other and kept the fans on edge till the tenth and final round. Demecillo got the nod 97-93 from all three judges and kept his WBF belt. Christian Araneta was in a similar ?hell in the ring? type of situation. In fact he was trailing four rounds to two on the judges? cards before the dramatic seventh when he sent Philip Luis Cuerdo down for the count. Cuerdo was more exhausted than hurt. It was one of those fan-friendly punishing brawls that draw fans in despite the hellish traffic. But somehow, one cannot help but wonder how long Demecillo can fight like this. The street battle between Jason Redondo and Ryan Quimbo was another keeper. It ended in a split draw and a well deserved applause. The evening started with a streak of stoppages - Marjun Piencenaves WKO1 Jesrel Corabal in only 22 seconds, Filjun Taneo WTKO4 Frejun dela Cruz,Jay-Ar Aliasot WTKO3 Ronald Garcia, Tomjune Mangubat WKO1 Michael Padayag, and Jhaleel Payao WTKO 2 Nicong Calamba. REMINISCING: It?s been a while since I attended a fight card in Cebu as a boxing writer and not as a ring doctor. Sitting at ringside and listening to the fans in the Mandaue Sports Complex brought back a lot of memories. It was in 2005 when I started writing for the now defunct philippineboxers.com. I would pay my own way to watch the fights because I did not have media credentials. There were times I would sit in bleachers and enjoy the catcalls and cursing. I was at home with the masses, real boxing fans who know their stuff, they know a real prospect from a phony, good scores from a stinker. It has been a privilege to join Philboxing for the past ten years. Fight cards like ?WHO?s NEXT?? keep the fans interested and we hope even in the post-Manny Pacquiao era. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..  |
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