Escalante retains IBA title

CEBU, Philippines - US-based Cebuano boxer Bruno Escalante kept his IBA Continental junior bantamweight title with a convincing 10-round unanimous decision victory against Mexican Victor Ruiz Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines) at the Cache Creek Casino Resort in Brooks, California.

Escalante was able to dominate the fight even if he suffered a broken left hand in the second round against the Mexican challenger.

The Cebuano southpaw had to adjust as he struggled even to keep his left hands up and strong to block Ruiz’s punches. But even with an injury, Escalante landed some crisp jabs and solid counters against Ruiz.

After 10 rounds, three judges scored 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 all in favor to Escalante, who improves his record to 13-1, spiked with 6 knockouts, while Ruiz suffered his second loss in 14 career fights.

“I had to use my feints and movement, and try to use my right more,” said Escalante in an interview with fightnews.com.

This is a great win for the 25-year-old Escalante who just received a citation award for boxing in the recent Sportswriters Association of Cebu  Awards. — (FREEMAN)