Sweet redemption for Pagara

CBEU – It’s payback time for Jason “El Niño” Pagara and he did it in spectacular fashion.

Pagara exacted revenge over Rosbel “Lobito” Montoya in style, dishing out a splendid sixth round TKO of his former Mexican tormentor to clinch the WBO International junior welterweight title in the main event of “Pinoy Pride XV: Philippines vs Mexico-The Rematch” a little past midnight yesterday at the Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

In stark contrast to their first encounter in September last year at the same arena where he was completely outclassed by Montoya, Pagara appeared to be more composed and tactical this time, bombarding the Mexican visitor with accurate and well-timed body punches from the outset.

“He was very sharp. You can see how really good Pagara is if he’s just focused on his training,” said ALA Boxing Gym big boss Antonio “Bidoy” L. Aldeguer.

Right from the opening round, Pagara started to work on Montoya’s body. So effective his fight plan was that an energy-sapping shot to the paunch sent his foe down at the seat of his pants.

  “It’s really our plan to hit him (Montoya) hard with body shots. When I knocked him down in the first round, I thought it was already the end. Nevertheless, it helped build my confidence and from that moment on, I feel it’s only a matter of time before I’m going to finish him off,” said Pagara.

The pride of Cagayan de Oro City again sent Montoya sprawling on the canvas with powerful body hits in round three.

Pagara, aggressive as ever, kept on dictating the pace of the bout in rounds four and five. In round six, he launched another wave of body attacks that flattened Montoya for the third time.

With the Mexican gasping for air as if looking for an oxygen tank, international referee Danrex Joseph Tapdasan wisely intervened and halted the match at 1:41 of the sixth round.

“I’m so happy that I did not only get my revenge, I’m also a champion again,” said an obviously esctatic Pagara, who drew a warm applause from the very appreciative crowd for his sterling performance.

Likewise, ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer was elated with the impressive showing of Pagara, but said a lot of challenges still loom ahead of his prized ward.

“I knew he has a big chance to win, but I did not expect it to be that way,” said Aldeguer. “As for our immediate plan for him, maybe we’re going to bring in a world-rated opponent who can give him a big test.”

The 21-year-old Pagara, who re-establishes himself as a world title contender, now holds an improved 29-2 win-loss record dotted with 17KOs, while Montoya slipped to 36-5-1 (30 KOs).

   In the co-feature of the slambang show bankrolled by ALA Promotions and ABS-CBN Sports, the undefeated ALA rising star Genesis “Azukal” Servania held virtual clinic in coming up with a lopsided unanimous decision win over Jorge “El Feroz” Pazos to claim the WBO Asia-Pacific super bantamweight crown.

Servania floored the hapless Pazos in rounds one, eight and nine but he couldn’t just knock the lights out of the sturdy Mexican.

Jimrex “The Executioner” Jaca, on the other hand, made an impression in his ring comeback under the aegis of ALA Stable, scoring a last-second knockout of young, but very game Mexican prospect Michael “Arcangel” Martinez.

Jaca, who once fought but lost to Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez, came up with three knockdowns in rounds three, seven and the last was just one second left in the eighth and final round.