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Philippines, 19 Apr 2025 |
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ALA BOXERS IN SMASHING U.S DEBUT By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Mon, 19 Oct 2015  Four boxers from the famed ALA Gym made a smashing U.S debut before a predominantly flag-waving Filipino crowd at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California on Sunday, Manila Time. In the main event WBO light flyweight champion Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes, the longest reigning Filipino world champion, dominated challenger and Mexican champion Juan ?Pinky? Alejo who is ranked No. 8 in the world, to score a near shut-out victory with judge Lou Moret turning in a 120-108 scorecard and the two other judges, Pat Russell and Marshall Walker giving Alejo one round for a 119-109 scorecard. Nietes worked behind a rapier-like left jab and vicious uppercuts as well as terrific combinations to the body and then to the side of the head to keep the pressure on the challenger who battled gamely but had no answer to the precision punching of the champion. Nietes rocked Alejo a couple of times early in the fight and wobbled him with a cracking left hook and a clubbing right hand in round five which resulted in a welt under his right eye and a bloodied nose. Nietes also suffered a slight nick on his left eyebrow but it wasn?t something to worry about as Dr. Ed de la Vega, serving as cut-man, handled it perfectly. 
Two of the youngest and most promising undefeated fighters Mark ?Magnifico? Magsayo, the IBF Youth world featherweight champion and IBF Intercontinental super bantamweight champion Prince Albert Pagara both scored truly impressive victories. Magsayo ripped into undefeated Mexican Yardley Suarez who had boasted that he would stop the 20 year old Filipino within two rounds and claimed he had power in both hands and that if he hit him in the body or the chin he would go down. It was exactly the opposite as the speed, movement and power of Magsayo proved far too much for Suarez who was dropped twice in the very first round with thundering flurries by Magsayo who won by a TKO at exactly 2:00 minutes of the round to take his record to 12-0 with 10 knockouts. 
Magsayo dropped Suarez with a fantastic combination and confirmed Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach?s assessment that he is a future world champion and that he liked the way Mark put his punches together. Magsayo?s rousing 1st round victory put additional pressure on the other young rising star of the Philippines, 21 year old undefeated Prince Albert Pagara, the IBF Intercontinental super bantamweight champion who faced tough William ?Chirizo? Gonzalez, the southpaw from Nicaragua who had won the WBA NABA featherweight with a shocking 7th round TKO over highly fancied Cornelius Lock, dropping him three times in the seventh round to win handily. 
Prince Albert gradually wore down Gonzalez with his relentless offense and his punching power in a fight where both men traded big shots with Pagara constantly thwarting Gonzalez with his nifty moves and counter-punching. We had predicted that the toughest fight of the evening for the ALA boxers would be Prince Albert?s clash with Gonzalez who trainer Edito |?Ala? Villamor agreed was a dangerous opponent who hit hard and threw telling combinations as it turned out, catching Pagara often. Referee Jack Reiss penalized Prince Albert a point for hitting Gonzalez after he had dropped the Nicaraguan in round two with a cracking right straight and warned him that one more such infractions would mean disqualification. 
While Gonzalez grew in confidence in rounds three and four a more careful Pagara bided his time before he nailed Gonzalez with a devastating straight right that sent the Nicaraguan reeling across the ring and into the ropes where he appeared dazed and unaware of where he was, before being counted out. Prince Albert?s elder brother Jason, the WBO International super lightweight champion was the least fancied among the ALA boxers but he set the tone for a glorious American debut when he battered Nicaraguan southpaw Santos Benavides, dropping him three times in the second round to kick-start ?Pinoy Pride 33? on a high note. The value of the ALA boys training in the US was clearly proven as Jason was able to get in some good rounds of sparring at the Wild Card Gym with Maurice ?Mighty Mo? Hooker who had beaten Benavides last March 6 which toughened the super lightweight who has had a hard time finding good sparring partners in the Philippines and accounted for his vastly improved performance. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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