Banal TKOs durable Thai foe

It was by far the hardest test in the budding career of AJ "Bajooka" Banal. So tough that the ALA Boxing Gym standout had to unleash all the weapons in his offensive arsenal before terminating his Thai opponent.

Banal maintained his clean record after scoring a ninth round TKO win over the very durable Terdkiat Jandaeng in the other night's third edition of the Solar Sports-presented "Stars of the Future" boxing series at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex.

Aside from stretching his unbeaten record to 11-0-1(9KOs), Banal also earned the right to vie for the WBO Asia Pacific Youth super flyweight title in the undercard of the Z Gorres-Fernando Montiel WBO jr bantamweight championship on February 24 at the Cebu City Sports Center.

Right at the onset, the 18-year-old Banal pounded Jandaeng with a variation of punishing blows to the head and body, but the iron-chinned Thai appeared to be unhurt by Banal's furious bombardments.

Banal landed a spate of solid hits to the head that wobbled Jandeng in round six, but the Boholano warrior couldn't finish off the defense-oriented Thai visitor.

In round nine, Banal pinned Jandaeng against the ropes with a fussilade of punches, forcing referee Tony Pesons to intervene and wave off the bout with just two seconds left in that stretch.

It was a judicious decision for Pesons as Jandaeng failed to counter Banal's attack and was severely beaten at that point.

Jandaeng slipped to 7-2-2, but will go back to his homeland with pride as he still hasn't been flattened in his career.

In the supporting main event featuring a rare match-up between ALA Stable and SGG fighters, Milan "Milenyo" Milendo showed some flair in dispatching veteran Fabio Marfa by unanimous decision, while another ALA boy Rocky Fuentes likewise prevailed by unanimous verdict over Greg Mangan in the other 10-round bout.

Upcoming lightweight Glen Masicampo of the Tagbilaran City-based Harada Stable floored Anton Olarte twice en route to a fourth round TKO victory at 1:49 mark, while fast-rising ALA mainstay Joseph Omanz vanquished the hard-fighting Carlo Magale by unanimous decision over six rounds.

The rest of the matches saw Edwin Apa-ap beating Ruben Santillosa, Leon Maratas overpowering Joel de la Cruz, and Romeo Jakosalem getting past Romnick Rapista - all by decision.

The battle between Jun Intor and Noel Songahid ended up in a technical draw at 1:25 of the second round. Intor was declared by the ringside doctor unfit to continue fighting because of a nasty cut on the left portion of his head caused by an accidental head-butt.