By DAVE CHARLES RESPONTE
Virgel “Valiente” Vitor of Tagbilaran City, Bohol, became the new WBO Oriental Super Featherweight champion after knocking out South Korea’s Taesun Kim in the seventh round of their main event bout at the “Kumong Bol-anon XIV” on Friday night, March 8, at Saulog Gym in Tagbilaran City.
Vitor (22-3, 15 KOs) overcame a second-round knockdown and rallied back to stop Kim (11-1-2, 8 KOs) with a powerful right straight to the head that sent the South Korean to the canvas. The referee Danrex Tapdasan waved off the fight at the 49-second mark of the seventh round.
The fight was a back-and-forth affair, with both fighters exchanging heavy blows and scoring knockdowns. Vitor landed a right hook to the head that dropped Kim in the second round, but Kim recovered and returned the favor with a right straight to the head that floored Vitor in the same round.
Vitor was saved by the bell and managed to regain his composure in the following rounds. He gradually wore down Kim with his superior speed and power, until he landed the decisive blow in the seventh round.
Tagbilaran City Mayor Jane Yap, who was present at the venue with her husband and chief of staff Baba Yap, congratulated Vitor, who hails from barangay Booy in the city.
She expressed her full support to PMI Boxing Stable for hosting the Kumong Bol-anon boxing series in the city, especially with a Tagbilaranon headlining the main event.
She said that the event will boost the city’s sports tourism initiatives, as the city government is in the process of building a 10,000-seating capacity stadium.
In the co-main event, Reymart “Cebuano Assasin” Tagacanao (8-0, 7 KOs) captured the WBA Asia Super Flyweight title with a sixth-round knockout of Indonesia’s Hamson Lamandau (12-6-1, 9 KOs). Tagacanao dropped Lamandau with a left hook to the body in the second round and finished him off with an overhand right in the sixth round.
The undercard featured several knockout wins by promising prospects.
WBO No. 15 ranked minimum weight Christian Balunan (10-0, 6 KOs) stopped veteran Clyde Azarcon (17-10-1, 6 KOs) in the second round with a body shot and a right uppercut.
Sugarey Leonard Pores (4-0, 3 KOs) knocked out Jacklien Serenoso (2-3-1, 2 KOs) in the third round with a flurry of punches. Richard Laspona (4-0, 3 KOs) made Reniel Alisoso (2-3, 1 KO) quit on his stool after the first round.
Arnold Senoc Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs) stopped Norman Rusiana (1-6-1) in the second round with a body shot.
Leonard Pores III (1-0, 1 KO) had a successful pro debut with a second-round knockout of Jarel Escriber (0-3).