Servania, Pagara provide spark to 'Pinoy Pride XII'

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines - Though the main event was nothing but a disappointment, the Boholano fans did not go home unsatisfied as they were treated to a highly entertaining night of fistic action in the undecards of the "Pinoy Pride XII:Bakbakan sa Bohol" watched by a crowd of over 20,000 at the Carlos P. Garcia Sports Complex here.

Super bantamweight prospect Genesis ‘Azukal’ Servania toiled hard before punching his way to a lopsided unanimous decision victory over the battle-tested Kenyan Nick ‘Kanyankole’ Otieno to keep his undefeated record intact.

For the entire 10 rounds of action, Servania found Otieno a tough costumer to handle as the Kenyan demonstrated excellent defense and slick counter-punching skills in the early rounds.

In the third, Otiento landed a solid shot that wobbled Servania, who then kept holding on to survive the round.

That was Otieno's only bright moment as Servania charged back oozing with fire in round four to dictate the pace of the bout the rest of the way. In the seventh frame, he dished out solid combinations that nearly knocked down his durable foe.

The official scores were 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92, all for Servania who stayed unscathed in 17 fights spiked with 5KOs. Otieno fell to 21-8 (9KOs).

On the other hand, former WBO Youth Asia-Pacific junior welterweight champion Jason ‘El Niño’ Pagara (28-2, 17KOs) showed he is ready to regain lost pride after destroying Indonesian Frans ‘Hands of Stone’ Yarangga (10-2, 7KOs) at the 2:41 mark of the second round.

It was a sweet redemption of sort for Pagara following his heart-breaking setback to Mexican Rosbel Montoya on September 10, 2011 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Pagara decked Yarangga once in the first round and three times in the second, forcing the third man on the ring to automatically halt the match by virtue of the three-knockdown rule.

In the other show-stealer, Michael ‘Bruce Lee’ Domingo (44-16, 23KOs) scored a spectacular one-punch knockout of Marvin "Leyte Bomber" Tampus (27-15, 18KOs) in the shortest bout of the evening.

Domingo planted an energy-sapping punch to the ribcage that sent Tampus down for good in 1:28 of the first round. - THE FREEMAN