Bacho halts Cuban, keys Phl’s romp

THANYABURI, Thailand – Joel Bacho came away with a 3-1 decision over World Series of Boxing and AIBA Pro Boxing veteran Arisnoidys Despaigne of Cuba to spark the Filipinos’ romp in the opening of the King’s Cup boxing tournament here Tuesday.

Despaigne, also a silver medalist in the 2013 World Championships, was highly favored over Bacho, who until recently has been fighting under the shadow of his erstwhile co-welterweight (69 kilos) Eumir Felix Marcial, a 2015 SEA Games gold medalist.

Marcial, fighting for the first time as a middleweight (75 kilos), also had a smashing technical knockout (TKO) victory over Japan’s Ren Umemura at the Queen Sirikit Sports Complex.

Unfazed by the Cuban’s credentials, Bacho, from Mandaluyong, took the fight to Despaigne, using excellent ring movement and snappy combinations.

“Joel used his head. Cuban coach Enrique Steiner came over to congratulate us and concede that they were unprepared for a much-improved Bacho,” said coach Pat Gaspi.

James Palicte also scored a TKO victory over Patrick McLaughlin of Australia while Carlo Paalam beat Australian Alex Winwood, Ian Clark Bautista toppled Juhyeon Chloe of Korea and Mario Fernandez whipped India’s Hussam Uddin Mohammed all via 5-0 routs.

But Paalam dropped a 0-5 setback to Uzbek Hasanboy Dusmatov in his next fight and bowed out of the tournament.

ABAP president Ricky Vargas was jubilant but cautious.

“This is an excellent start. But you must always be on your toes, there are bigger tasks ahead. I will constantly be praying for our boxers’ safety and success,” said the PLDT executive.