Dubai ? Before a sellout crowd that had the classy venue rocking and rolling, Filipino fighters Genesis Servania, Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista and King Arthur Villanueva posted wins over their respective Hispanic foes late Friday night (early Saturday morning in Manila) at the World Trade Center.
Servania was declared winner by stoppage over Jose Cabrera of Mexico, who opted to quit on his stool in the tenth round of their scheduled 12-round super-bantamweight bout that was the main event of Pinoy Pride 27.
?He?s tough and Cabrera showed why Mexicans are hard to beat,? said Servania, who thought he was going to put away the rugged Cabrera after sending him down in the second round with a right to the cheek.
But Cabrera picked himself up and fought on although he was behind on the scorecards when he decided to answer the bell.
Bautista, the most popular of the three ALA Boxing punchers, struggled in posting a seventh-round majority technical decision victory over Juan Jose Martinez, also of Mexico, in their ten-round super-feather contest.
Two of the three judges favored Bautista, while the third saw it a draw, sending the audience, composed mainly of homesick but enthusiastic OFWs, in a frenzy.
Villanueva had the most difficulty among the three as the super-flyweight from Negros Occidental kept his unbeaten record intact with a split decision triumph over the gutsy and durable Henry Maldonado of Nicaragua.
Villanueva won on two scorecards, 117-110 and 116-113, while Maldonado got the nod of the third, 114-113.
Villanueva also thought he would have an easy night after wobbling Maldonado with a combo but found himself on the seat of his pants after taking a vicious counter.
Promoter Michael Aldeguer of ALA Boxing was ecstatic with the large turnout and thanked the Filipino community for its all-out support to his first foray here in the Middle East.
Even executives from TV network ABS-CBN was on cloud nine over the terrific response of the Filipinos to the slugfest.
All 2,500 tickets were sold and promoters said they had to turn away hundreds at the gate.
