Bert Batawang is one of the nicest persons at the ALA Gym – but not in the ring.
The 30-year-old surplus-parts dealer proved he is one of the meanest in the arena Saturday night when he decked former RP junior flyweight champion Eugene Gonzales in the fifth round of the “Power Punch” card at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.
The SGG Stable ace fighter racked up a technical knockout win in the SGG Sports Promotion card after knocking down Gonzales thrice.
Uppercut
He scored two knockdowns in the second round when he connected big hooks before Gonzales fought back and even engaged the SGG cornermen in verbal jabs while fighting.
Batawang, the WBA Pan-African champion, then unleashed a big uppercut to the chin and a series of hooks to the head and body that dropped Gonzales again in the fifth.
After the mandatory eight count, Batawang went for the kill and stalked Gonzales with bone-breaking punches, the last a smashing straight to the face that forced referee Teddy Alivio to call it over at the 2:23 mark.
“I just got lucky. Gozales was so tough and slick, and he clinched a lot,” Batawang told Sun.Star Cebu after the fight.
For about three minutes, Batawang knelt on the canvass “to thank God for the victory.” The fight night before the fight, he spent three hours with his wife at the Guadalupe church and Basilica del Sto. Ni?o.
Meantime, former national amateur gold medalist AJ Banal finally came out of his shell and scored a stunning first-round KO over Julius Cabusas of Butuan City.
A series of punches floored Cabusas early but the end came when Banal faked a right before unleashing a powerful straight that KOed his opponent.
Robert Allanic also scored a stoppage over John Ray Verano at the 1:20 mark of the third round to improve his professional record to 8-1 with five KO wins.
Other fights
In other bouts, Isidro Balabat scored a TKO win at the start of the seventh round over Jun Eraham, Allan Yap won by TKO in 59 seconds into the fourth round in his professional debut, Rey Caitom won by unanimous decision over Frederick Salde after six rounds, Along Dinoy beat Ni?o Suelo by unanimous decision after 10 rounds, Arnel Tadena beat Rey Migre?o by unanimous decision after six rounds, Jun Intor won by a unanimous decision over Sonny Alfafara after four rounds, and Milan Melindo debuted with a unanimous decision win over Meljon Grumo.
