JASON Pagara may not be ready to fight for a world title just yet, but he showed signs of promise in his hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision victory over tough Mexican Aaron Herrera last Saturday night at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino.
?Jason came into the fight with maturity. He fought by the game plan against a quality opponent. He proved that he can go up to the next level. He showed us what he can become,? ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer said after the fight. ?The 140-pound division is one of the toughest.
He has shown that he can be up there. A lot is in store for him. We will see what?s next for him. We want to expose him in the US and get some sparring there. We are also looking at promoting him in the US.?
TARGET PRACTICE. Jason Pagara connects with a right straight to his challenger?s face en route to scoring a unanimous decision win in Pinoy Pride 20. (Sun.Star Cebu Photo/Arni Aclao)
After a feel-out opening round, the 22-year-old Pagara (31-2, 19 KOs) landed with accuracy in the second round and floored Herrera (25-2, 17 KOs) with a left hook that was followed by two jarring right uppercuts to the jaw.
?I thought he wasn?t going to stand up. I thought it was going to be over in two rounds,? said Pagara, who retained his World Boxing Organization (WBO) International light welterweight belt.
Herrera regained his composure and took Pagara?s punches well the whole night. Pagara landed consistently with his right but Herrera somehow managed to stay on his feet.
Herrera also had his moments ? he tagged Pagara with his crisp and accurate jabs and also landed some left hooks that rocked the WBO No. 4 ranked light welterweight.
Judge Salven Lagumbay saw it as a close fight, 115-112, while Tony Pesons had it 116-111. Arnie Najera saw Pagara winning by a huge margin, 118-108.
Unbeaten Genesis Servania (20-0, 8 KOs) displayed his championship pedigree with a quick third round demolition of Indonesian prospect Isack Junior (20-4-2, 8 KOs).
Servania, 21, landed some vicious blows to the body that sent Junior to the mat in the third round. Ben Necessario counted out Junior, who didn?t want anything to do with Servania anymore, in the 2:15 mark.
With the impressive win, Servania is now booked for his international debut against Japanese Konosuke Tomiyama in Top Rank?s event in Macau on July 27.
Jimrex Jaca (38-6-3, 21 KOs) survived a late knockdown to claim the vacant WBO Oriental light welterweight strap with a unanimous decision victory over tough Mexican Jose Emilio Perea (29-3, 20 KOs).
Jaca, who boxed well the whole night, was tagged with straight right, while backing up, that knocked him down to the canvas. Jaca immediately stood up, unhurt, and survived the final bell.
All three judges saw the 29-year-old Jaca winning with scores of 116-110, 116-110 and 115-112.
