Servania stops foe, keeps crown

MANILA, Philippines - Genesis Servania of the Philippines wore down Alexander Muñoz of Venezuela before putting him out in the 12th round late Saturday night at the Solaire Resort.

The victory enabled Servania to keep his WBO Inter-Continental super-bantamweight crown and stretch his unbeaten record to 24-0 with 10 knockouts.

The 22-year-old Servania, a dozen years younger than his opponent, scored knockdowns in the second and seventh rounds before finishing his opponent off in the 2:22 mark of the 12th.

While it was a convincing win, it wasn’t an easy one after Servania, who suffered a cut just above the left eye in the sixth round. It was a bloody cut.

But it didn’t take the sting out of Servania’s punches as the native of Bacolod pummeled his way inside the ring to cap Pinoy Pride 24 with a knockout win.

Servania is ready for the bigger fights, according to his handler, Michael Aldeguer of the ALA Boxing Promotions.

“We want more fights like this,” Aldegeur told Ring Magazine which covered the fight. The ALA chief said they’re looking at Fernando Montiel or Vic Darchinyan for Servania.

“I think these are the fights this guy needs. When you’re young you need to go through fights like these in order to be prepared to fight for a world title,” he added.

The end came when Servania landed a heavy right against Muñoz, the former WBA super-flyweight champion. The Venezuelan managed to beat the count but referee Danrex Tapdasan thought he’d had enough.

Nobody complained when the Filipino referee stopped the fight.

Spicing up the evening were Albert Pagara who also knocked out Isack Junior in their junior featherweight contest to improve his mark to 19-0 with 13 knockouts.

Arthur Villanueva  found his last-minute opponent, Fernando Aguilar, a tough nut to crack.

The Mexican came on short notice after Villanueva’s original opponent, Juan Hernandez, figured in a motorcycle accident a few weeks back.

Aguilar proved to be a worthy foe for the 25-year-old Villanueva who won on points to remain undefeated in 25 fights. Aguilar took his first loss in 10 fights.