PARA?AQUE?Genesis Servania stamped his class as a future world title contender after getting past his toughest test to date.
Servania stopped 35-year-old two-time world titleholder Alexander Munoz in the 12th round of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) Inter-Continental super bantamweight title defense last Saturday night at the posh Solaire Resort and Casino.
The 22-year-old Servania floored Munoz with a picture-perfect right straight to the chin in the final round. Although glassy-eyed and worn out, Munoz mustered enough strength to stand up and beat the count but referee Danrex Tapdasan waved the bout off in the 2:22 mark after the tough Venezuelan was still wobbly on his feet.
?We really expected a tough fight against a former world champion. Genesis still has a lot to learn. He needs one or two more fights before a world title. He has to gain more experience. He had cramps on that fight but you got to give props to Munoz because he was tough,” ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer said after the fight.
Servania, ranked third in the WBO, looked impressive in the early rounds and knocked down Munoz in the second round with a right straight. However, he would slow down after he got cut above the right eye from a punch by Munoz. Servania?s eye bled profusely in the eighth round after an accidental clash of heads.
The bleeding didn?t stop Servania as he landed a vicious left hook to the midsection of Munoz that put him down on one knee in the ninth. Munoz would hang on and put up a fight before he got stopped in the final round.
Servania improved to 24-0 with 10 knockouts, while Munoz dropped to 36-6 with 28 knockouts.
ALA Promotions is planning on giving Servania another tough test against a former world champion. Some of the names in the shortlist are Vic Darchinyan and Fernando Montiel.
Albert Pagara (19-0, 13 KOs) showed that he’s on a different league after an easy demolition of former WBO Asia-Pacifc super flyweight champion Isack Junior (22-5-2, 8 KOs).
The 20-year-old Pagara sank a bone-crushing right straight to the ribs that sent Junior grimacing in pain down on the canvass. Junior couldn’t stand up and the fight was stopped in the 2:41 mark of the opening round.
It was a harder fight than expected but Arthur Villanueva (25-0, 14 KOs) did enough to get the unanimous decision nod over tough Mexican Fernando Aguilar (9-7, 1 KO) in a 10-round war.
All the judges gave the fight to Villanueva with scores of 94-93, 95-92 and 96-91.
Although Villanueva got the victory he ended up with two swollen eyes. He got hurt a couple times in the fight against Aguilar, who just took the fight in less than a week?s notice. Aguilar apparently is tougher than advertised and allegedly has a better record with with 15 wins and six losses going into the fight.
In the undercard, Mark Magsayo (5-0, 4 KOs) remained unbeaten with a sixth round knockout over Roy-Roy Sumugat (9-10-1, 3 KOs); Melvin Gumban (16-0, 8 KOs) stopped journeyman Dino Lelis (10-12-2, 5 KOs) in the fifth round; Vic Saludar (3-1, 3 KOs) hands Philip Luis Cuerdo (3-1, 1 KO); and Cuban Reymi Castellano Aleye (4-0, 1 KO) toyed with Diover Mangaya-ay (1-4) en route to a lopsided unanimous decision.
