'Double Trouble' in Dapitan: Delada, Janiola pull twinkill

DAPITAN CITY — Dexter Delada and Wyndel Janiola, both of Cebu's noted Rex "Wakee" Salud Stable, hurdled their respective title bids in contrasting fashion on Tuesday night's well-attended "Double Trouble" card at the Gloria de Dapitan here in the capital of Zamboanga del Norte - home of the world-famous Dakak Park and Resort.

Delada, the punching dynamo from the island of Camiguin, scored a brutal third round stoppage of Christopher Saluday to claim the previously vacant RP lightweight crown, while Janiola eased out a majority decision victory over Phil Parcon to emerge as the new Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) light flyweight champion.

Delada, who suffered a cut over his right eye inflicted by a legal punch in the opening session, floored Saluday with a powerful left hook to the jaw in the second round.

Saluday recovered quickly from that fall and even engaged Delada in an intense exchange of punishing blows for the rest of the round.

In round three, the two protagonists again traded bombs toe-to-toe to the delight of a very appreciative crowd until Saluday was deducted a point for an accidental head clash that opened a deep cut above Delada's left eye.

Few seconds later, Saluday was again slapped with a one point deduction for a head-butt that opened a third cut on Delada's face, this time below his left eye.

As Saluday became aggressive, Delada put up one gallant stand in the face of his opponent's heavy bombardments to the head and body.

Delada bravely parried and even countered Saluday's attack until he found an opening perfect enough for him to launch a solid right cross that wobbled the Davao City fighter.

As Delada was about to go for the kill, a visibly groggy Saluday quickly turned around and raised both his hands in a decent gesture of surrender, prompting referee to halt the bout at 1:49 mark of the third round.

"I sustained several cuts, but the pain is nothing as what is the important thing for me is winning this championship. I will just train hard so I can defend my title hopefully for a long time," said Delada, who improved to 16-3 now spiked with 11KOs.

Event backer Bullet Jalosjos of Powerhouse Productions said he will explore all the possible ways and means for Delada's first title defense against Dennis Laurente to be staged in Dapitan.

"We're willing to host Delada's defense. We will study that because we're really trying to push pro boxing here in Dapitan," said Jalosjos, who bankrolled the slambang event in partnership with RWS Promotions International, Gloria de Dapitan, Gov. Rolando Yebes, Mayor Jun Jalosjos and San Miguel Beer.

In the chief support bout, Janiola was knocked down in the ninth round after being caught by Parcon's right jab-left straight combination, but piled up enough points early on to breeze through championship glory in his only first fight of the year.

The official scores were 95-95, 95-93, 97-93.

In the supporting bouts, Dapitan's hometown idol Joe Galamiton won via unanimous decision over North Cotabato's Jonathan Candari, Gideon Amba stopped Cagayan de Oro's Jing Supremo at 1:23 of the second, Apol Suico forced Isidro Balabat into retirement at 1:46 of the ninth round, while Jonathan Baat of Davao City won by technical decision over Cebu City's Pingping Repora, the only casualty of RWS Stable fighters.