MANILA, Philippines – Bantamweight prospect A. J. Banal momentarily let his guard down as referee Silvestre Abainza stepped in to break up a clinch and two-time world champion Luis Alberto Perez of Nicaragua took advantage to throw a vicious right cross that caused his disqualification at 1:47 of the seventh round in a bitter brawl at the Waterfront Hotel ballroom in Cebu City last Saturday night.
Banal, 21, dominated the action in the first five rounds then Perez, 32, began to show signs of life in the sixth, seizing the initiative as the Filipino slowed down. In the seventh, Perez stepped up his attack and a blistering body assault appeared to take the starch out of Banal.
It looked like Banal, dazed by a right straight, was on the way down when he grabbed Perez for dear life. As Abainza broke up the clinch, Perez unleashed a sucker punch that caught Banal flush on the face. Banal collapsed on the canvas. Abainza could?ve given Banal five minutes to recover but the fallen fighter was clearly unfit to continue.
?He couldn?t get up,? said Abainza. ?He tried to but fell back. I could?ve counted to 10 and he wouldn?t have gotten up. I saw he had a big cut on his left eyebrow that was opened by a butt. So if I didn?t disqualify Perez, I think the fight would?ve been stopped anyway because of the cut. If I didn?t disqualify Perez, it would?ve gone to the scorecards and I would?ve deducted a point from Perez for the illegal blow and another point for the headbutt.?
At the end of six rounds, Banal was way ahead on the three judges? scorecards. Salven Lagumbay and Noel Flores had it both, 59-55, and Edward Ligas, 60-54, for Banal.
?I thought Banal was in control in the first five rounds,? said Abainza. ?Perez is like a diesel engine. He?s a slow starter. I could sense that Banal was beginning to fade in the sixth. Perez hit him with some solid shots to the body and head in the seventh. Banal was about to go down when he held on. As I broke them up, Perez suddenly threw a punch. Banal went down and I knew he wouldn?t get up. If the fight continued, I don?t know if he could?ve survived three more rounds because Perez was getting str
