LOS ANGELES — A thunderclap left to the head, which sent his bigger Russian sparmate tottering, yesterday showed that Bert Batawang has a great shot at the IBF light flyweight crown of Mexican Ulises Solis, but the Cebuano also exposed serious flaws, mainly in defense, during a furious sparring here.
There was no doubting Batawang?s ferocity and power as he tore at bantamweight Andrei Kutsin who, despite outweighing him by at least eight pounds, had to claw, gasp for air and clinch after absorbing heavy body bombardment.
The problem was that, although he had supposedly stopped loading up his punches, Batawang kept leaving his head uncovered while pulling back his arms to complete a hard shot.
There was also a serious lack of continuity and Batawang, caught against the ropes, stalled, failed to cut and counter, and was left an open target in the closing seconds of rounds three and four.
?Basta isabit natin ang korona (We?re out to nail the crown),? an incensed Batawang blurted absently after his mouthpiece was disengaged at the end of the six-round drill.
