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Philippines, 23 Oct 2025 |
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PINOY PRIDE 23: SABILLO VS BUITRAGO ENDS IN SPLIT DRAW By Rene Bonsubre, Jr. PhilBoxing.com Sun, 01 Dec 2013  QUEZON CITY ? It was the spine-tingling match that everyone expected. Merlito ?Tiger? Sabillo managed to hang on to his WBO minimumweight world title against a young and skillful challenger from Nicaragua, Carlos ?Chocorroncito? Buitrago. Both boxers were cautious at the start, opening the fight with jabs and feints. Buitrago effectively countered Sabillo when the champion tried to get in. The Nicaraguan?s footwork enabled him to find the right distance and angles against the southpaw Sabillo. The streetfighter in Sabillo woke up in the 4th and he tried to lure the 21 year old Buitrago into a brawl. But Buitrago?s jab and accurate right kept on landing. Sensing he was falling behind, Sabillo kept his pressure the fight became a battle between accuracy versus volume and aggressiveness. 
The 29 year old Sabillo?s fierceness and pressure enabled him to gain ground and catch up past the halfway mark. The fight was hanging in the balance with Sabillo almost going down but he continued to force the issue while Buitrago, who is interim titlist, stuck to his plan to wait and counter. The scorecards of the judges ? Levi Martinez (USA) ? 115-113 for Buitrago, Joerge Milke (Germany) ? 115-113 for Sabillo and Takeshi Shimakawa (Japan) -114-114. The referee was Jack Reiss of the U.S. Both boxers remain unbeaten, Sabillo is now 23-0-1, 12 Ko?s, Buitrago is 27-0-1, 16 Ko?s. The title remains in Sabillo?s hands. This bout was the co-main event for PINOY PRIDE 23: FILIPINOS KONTRA LATINOS which was held Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. This writer and philboxing editor Dong Secuya both scored it a draw. In an unofficial poll among sportswriters at ringside, seven had Buitrago winning by a hairline, two agreed with the draw but all were unanimous in saying this was a very close fight. Rematch anyone? Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..  |
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