Pinoy rules!
I was on assignment last Saturday, after being out of commission for more than 2 months, we covered the wedding of Marky and Lot at the Chapel of St. Pancratius in Paco Park. I felt like being a newbie again.
Although tired of my latest assignment, I made it a point to watch 2 important sports events, first was Brian ‘The Hawaiian Punch’ Viloria’s International Boxing Federation (IBF) Flyweight title defense against the Mexican challenger Jesus Iribe held at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Brian Viloria retains his flyweight crown via unanimous decision (118-110, 117-112 and 117-11), Viloria’s record improved to 26 wins 2 losses and no draw with 15 wins via knock-out. Two other Filipino fighters also won against their respective opponents, Dennis Laurente winning via unanimous decision (100-90, 100-90 and 99-91) against Zaid Zavaleta of Mexico in their own 10-round light welterweight non-title fight, Laurente’s record is not at 32-3-5 (16 by KO).
AJ “Bazooka” Banal out-punched Mexican Jose Angel Beranza in their 10-round junior featherweight non-title bout with the judges scoring a unanimous decision in favor of Banal (99-92, 98-91 and 98-92).
The other event being the UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira where Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera won his come back fight against Krzysztof Soszynski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in the Light Heavyweight category. Another upcoming Pinoy MMA fighter Mark ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’ Muñoz won via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28) against Nick Catone in the Middleweight match-up.
What a day for Filipinos to stand proud!
