RING rust and a previously injured left eye may have affected Jason Canoy?s performance but his grit and will to win more than made up for it and gave him the victory last Saturday night.
?I feel there was a lot missing tonight. I think I need to improve my stamina and I need to follow up my punches. One of the reasons also was my long layoff,? said Canoy. ?I wasn?t supposed to fight tonight because my left eye was scheduled for an operation. I had a difficult time seeing with it.?
Canoy walked away with a unanimous decision against former World Boxing Association (WBA) Asia bantamweight champion Jestoni Autida after a courageous performance in the main event of ?Uptown Rumble!? at the One Mango Avenue parking lot.
Edwin Barrientos scored it 96-94, Edgar Olalo had it 96-93 and Teddy Alivio saw it 98-91, all for Canoy.
Canoy immediately took the fight to Autida from the get-go and landed some heavy blows that rocked the visiting fighter. A well-placed right uppercut knocked down Autida in the third round.
Knockout hunt
?I was going for the knockout but I really felt that it would go the distance because he was very tough and well-conditioned,? he said.
In the fourth round, Canoy had a huge gash above his left eye, which according to him was from an accidental elbow. As the blood trickled down to his right eye, he started getting tagged by Autida?s jabs and counterpunches.
?After the cut, I really had a hard time seeing,? he admitted.
Canoy, however, didn?t back down and continued to attack Autida aggressively, which ultimately convinced the judges.
With the win, Canoy improved to 25-6-2 with 18 knockouts, while Autida fell to 9-5 with four knockouts.
Jerry Castroverde (9-2, 5 KOs) destroyed Hagibis Qui?ones (5-18-1, 4 KOs) in just one round in the main supporting bout.
In the undercard, Jhaleel Payao (13-1, 7 KOs) scored a lopsided unanimous decision over JR Salvador (5-28-3); Ryan Quimbo (5-12-1) upset South Korean Kim Jae Ho (6-2-1, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision in a very entertaining eight-rounder; Salatiel Amit (8-1-2, 6 KOs) handed Junriel Jimenez (5-1, 2 KOs) his first career defeat after he quit on his stool going into the sixth round; Jay-R Aliasot (3-1, 2 KOs) stopped Holy Quinones (1-6-1) in the opening round; Ponciano Rimandiman (3-4-1, 2 KOs) made quick work of Jojie Bautista (0-2) and ended his night in the second round; Ian Rafuela (2-0 1 KO) defeated Ar-Ar Borbon (2-1-1, 2 KOs) by majority decision; and Oliver Genecera (1-0, 1 KO) had an impressive pro debut, knocking out Jonard Tabar (0-2) in two rounds.
