IT WAS an anticlimactic ending not just for Filipino fighter Alex Aroy?who was hoping to win WBC International flyweight belt? but to all spectators as well. They were stunned when the lights suddenly went out at the boxing ring during their title fight in Temba, South Africa.
What made it more strange was, according to Aroy?s trainer, only the boxing ring?s lights conked out and not the entire Carousel and Hotel Casino, the venue of the fight.
Aroy, who hails from Maasin City, was winning throughout the match when the boxing ring suddenly went dark.
?It was serious cheating. The fight was stopped because the lights went out but only in the boxing ring. It was very impossible since this is a casino,? trainer Juanito Ablaca reported in a text message to Rex ?Wakee? Salud that was forwarded to Sun.Star Cebu.
Aroy (12-5-1, 6KOs), who is also known as the Maasin Bomber, challenged the reigning WBC International 112-lb. champion and undefeated Zukisani ?Trouble Maker? Kwayiba (10-0, 7KOs) of Eastern Cape yesterday.
However, the scheduled 12-round action was cut short at the start of the sixth round and the judges declared Kwayiba as the winner of the contest by majority decision.
Ablaca reported that the champion already looked very exhausted and seemed ready to fall when the lights went out.
Tired
?Kwayiba was already very tired and when the lights went out he was able to take the needed rest for five minutes but the lights did not come back on so they decided to go to the scorecards,? Ablaca said.
According to Ablaca, Aroy had the upper hand when the lights went out since the champion was always tagged by the Filpino fighter?s heavy hands and was groggy most of the time.
?Seven minutes after the decision was read, the lights (at the boxing ring) went back. The entire casino building was very bright with light. The spectators were very frustrated because they hollered and booed,? Ablaca said in his message.
South Africa is notorious for hometown decisions and a foreign fighter?s best chance of winning is by knockout.
Today, another Filipino from the RWS Stable will also try his luck to win the WBC international lightweight title.
The Philippines? 135-lb. champion JR Sollano (12-6, 9KOs) will try to wrest the belt from Ali Funeka (28-1-2, 23KOs) at the Orient Theatre, East London, Eastern Cape still in South Africa.
