Wednesday, 29 July 2026 · Philippines
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American writer says Wandee beat Rubillar fair and square

Just moments ago, a highly-regarded source from Thailand, the well-respected boxing writer Scott Mallon of the US wrote to say his take on Tuesday's battle between Thailand's Wandee Singwangcha and the Philippines' Juanito Rubillar. (DISCLOSURE: Mallon boldly predicted before the fight that Rubillar would win the fight over Singwangcha, hence, his words stating that it was a fair decision comes across as an honest opinion from a neutral observer. Here's his letter:

Wandee Singwangcha (left) and Juanito Rubillar (right) with referee Malcolm Bulner of Australia moments before the verdict was announced after their 12-round battle.

Dear Salven,

In no way shape or form did Rubillar come close to winning the fight. I've watched it twice on vid and Wandee controlled the fight, landed more punches and made Rubillar look plain ole sloppy. How anyone could score it a win for Rubillar is beyond me and 117-113 was quite appropriate. Wandee didn't win but one of the first six rounds so I don't know what this guy was watching on TV.

If I thought Singwancha actually got beat I would have no problem stating this. He outboxed Rubillar and landed the better shots. One thing that irks me is when fans get overly nationalistic and feel ripped off when "their" fighter gets beat. It's a sport and frankly I don't care where either of them come from. The fact is Rubillar was competitive but didn't fight hard enough until the later rounds. By then it was too late. Tell your readers, as I will tell mine, when a fighter gives his all and is beat fairly, there's no shame in that. There's also no shame in admitting you were defeated.

One Filipino at the fight told me he thought Rubillar might have got a draw however I told him there was no way. Absolutely no way. He was way too slow for Singwancha and this surprised me. But the fight was called quite fairly and as you said, that's the way the cookie crumbled. It had nothing to do with the fight being in Thailand or Rubillar getting ripped off. He got beat, plain and simple.

Regards,

Scott

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