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Philippines, 22 Mar 2026 |
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Valiant Stand not Enough in Failed OPBF Title Bids By Epifanio M. Almeda PhilBoxing.com Mon, 05 Oct 2009 Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) number 1 challengers super-featherweight Aaron Melgarejo and super-flyweight Marvin Tampus showed commendable courage in their respective failed bids to wrest the OPBF titles last night, October 3, in Tokyo, Japan. But courage alone is not enough when faced with the more determined and prepared champions fighting in their turf. Although his nose bled starting in the second round from a punch by Melgarejo, OPBF super-featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama proved to the better conditioned as he delivered the more accurate and harder blows to the head and body while warding off and evading most of Melgarejo’s intermittent punches. For Aaron to fight another day, his uncles Tiger Ari, Lion Ari and Dino Olivetti decided to end the one-sided fight by throwing in the towel midway in the 7th round as the champion was raining bombs to the cornered Aaron. Marvin Tampus silenced the pro-champion crowd when he felled OPBF super-flyweight champion Kohei Kono in the first round. It was a good start and Tampos showed he was ready to take in Kono’s best shots in order to deliver his own. But Kono was simply the busier fighter who outpunched the heavier hitter Tampus throughout the fight after getting off the canvas. Kono opened a cut on Tampus’ left eyebrow in the 2nd round which became bigger as the fight progressed. It seemed always the champion who delivered the first and the last blows when the fighters engage. A knockout was Tampus last hope as he trailed in the accumulated scorecards read after the 4th and 8th rounds. An opportunity to score the knockout came in the 12th round. As Tampus was landing his heavy blows to the visibly hurt champion, a haymaker missed its target causing Tampus to lose balance and slipped to the floor. The referee called it a knockdown and Kono was directed to the neutral corner for the mandatory 8-count against Tampus. When the fight resumed, the champion had fully recovered and Tampus’ last hope to be victorious vanished as Kono finished the round strong and dominant against the fading challenger. Kono retained his title via unanimous decision with scores of 116-111 twice and 115-110. Aaron Melgarejo and Marvin Tampus were valiant. Their respective handlers saw what went wrong and why. Being still young, they can bounce back to contention if they learn the respective lessons dished out to them the hard way. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Epifanio M. Almeda.  |
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