Sabillo leads night of knockouts

PARAÑAQUE CITY, Philippines-Merlito 'Tiger' Sabillo (22-0, 12KOs) retained his WBO minimumweight title in spectacular fashion with a ninth round knockout of Colombia's Jorle Jacinto Estrada (16-7, 5KOs) in the main-event of 'Pinoy Pride XXI: When Worlds Collide' last Saturday night at the jam-packed Grand Ballroom of Solaire Casino and Leisure Park here.

The 29-year-old Sabillo lived up to the hype and proven his spot as one of the world champions of today as he fulfill his promise of scoring an impressive victory in his very first title defense.

The pride of Toboso, Negros Occidental connected a picture perfect left uppercut to the Estrada's rib cage that finished off his challenger in the 1:09 mark of the ninth round.

Though Sabillo was clear to be the more dominant fighter above the ring, it became a little complicated for the Filipino champion as the Colombian challenger refused to engage in slugfest  by constantly running away.

Sabillo's corner made an adjustment by working on Estrada's body that slowly weakens the mobility of the Colombian who was feeling the power of the ALA warrior.

The perfect ending happened in the ninth round as Sabillo used his quick reflex to evade a right straight from Estrada before unloading a crushing counter left uppercut that spell the end to the Colombian boxer who wasn’t able to beat the ten count of referee Raul Caiz Jr.

"I really wanted to finish him early but he was always running away that’s why I tried to take away his legs by using my body shots and that’s where I also caught him in that (ninth) round," said Sabillo, who is one of the four remaining world champions of the country together with his stable mate Donnie Nietes (WBO light flyweight), Johnriel Casimero (IBF light flyweight) and Edrin Dapudong (IBO bantamweight).

For his part, ALA Promotions President and CEO Michael Aldeguer said this signaled the start of Sabillo’s era and he is already planning another big fight for the Filipino champion.

"This is first main-event fight and this is also his first fight in Manila, but he was himself even with the spotlight on him," said Aldeguer. "He has an exciting style and he has proven that he has what it takes to be the next great champion of the Philippines."

Aldeguer added that he is looking at October as the next date for Sabillo’s fight and that it could be held either in Mexico or Dubai.

In the equally-exciting supporting bout, unbeaten ’King’ Arthur Villanueva (22-0, 12KOs) scored a fourth round stoppage against Arturo ‘Fuerte’ Badillo (21-5, 19KOs) of Mexico to snatched the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific super flyweight title.

Former two-time world title challenger AJ ‘Bazooka’ Banal (29-2, 21KOs) also made an impressive return as he easily demolished Mexican Abraham Gomez (18-8, 9KOs) via second round TKO.

‘Prince’ Albert Pagara (17-0, 12KOs) also stayed undefeated after finishing his Thai opponent Khunkiri Wor Wisaruth (9-5, 5KOs) in the second round with a wicked right straight, while former amateur standout Vic Saludar made an his professional debut with flying colors after scoring a 52 seconds stoppage of Juanito Hundante. (FREEMAN)