Lo and behold, the highly focused Jaysever Abcede stunningly stopped Pigmy Kokietgym at the 2:10 mark of round 11?
When Pigmy (57-8-2) fought unheralded Pinoy Jaysever Abcede (9-3) yesterday, with the vacant WBO Oriental miniumweight title at stake, he was a heavy favorite to win, especially since the fight was in the friendly confines of Bangkok, Thailand, where Thai fighters rarely lose. Moreover, the Pigmy had already beaten tough Indonesian Heri Amol in March 2015.
However, the manner in which Kokietgym was slaughtered by South African Hekkie Butler in Monte Carlo in June 2014 suggested that his best days were behind him. The Pigmy was decked once in rounds four, seven, and eight before staying down in a bid for the IBO and the WBA World miniumweight titles.
The active Abcede was on a six-fight win streak coming in and though his level of opposition was not great, it was about equal to that of Kokietgym.
The story behind the story here is that Abcede had traveled to Thailand with the intention of being more than just the ?deisignated loser? collecting a payday. He was facing a former world title challenger who had been all but promised another world title shot later this year
Lo and behold, the highly focused Jaysever Abcede stunningly stopped Pigmy Kokietgym at the 2:10 mark of round 11 thereby stamping his name as the new WBO titleholder and the latest Filipino fighter to win in Thailand. The 20-year-old Filipino used a short right cross to take Pigmy out as he registered his fifth stoppage in a row with his last win being a 3rd round TKO of Charles Canedo on July 19.
