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CZAR
AMONSOT fought gallantly but still came up short in his
bid to give the country its third legitimate world
title.
The
21-year-old Amonsot yesterday lost to defending champion
Michael Katsidis of Australia via a 12-round unanimous
decision in a World Boxing Organization (WBO) interim
lightweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay in Las
Vegas, Nevada.
Amonsot
was later rushed to a
Las Vegas
hospital after a blood clot was discovered in the
Tagbilaran
City
native’s brain.
Nevada
State Athletic Commission executive director Keith
Keizer, however, cleared that the small clot—termed as
subdural hematoma—is not life threatening and that it is
at a minimal level.
Doctors,
however, still decided to confine Amonsot at the
intensive care unit (ICU) of a Las Vegas hospital for more precautionary tests.
However,
Keizer gave a grim opinion by stating that the bleed may
be enough to force Amonsot to end what is still
considered a promising boxing career.
Amonsot
is scheduled to be back home Tuesday morning, although
that could change depending on his development.
The
southpaw Amonsot started out well by hitting Katsidis
with excellent combinations and used his superior
footwork in circling around the Aussie’s wild punches.
Amonsot
had the upper hand up to the middle of the second round
and actually staggered Katsidis with a strong right hook
to the face that caused a gash on the Australian’s left
eyelid.
But as
Amonsot was about to let loose a follow-up, Katsidis
unleashed a well-timed right straight to the jaw that
floored the Filipino challenger.
Amonsot
got up at the count of five and managed to survive
Katsidis’s onslaught by using his decent ring movements.
From
there, it was total war as both boxers engaged in a
give-and-take affair with Amonsot landing more
combinations and uppercuts while Katsidis countered with
fewer but sturdier blows.
Amonsot
floored Katsidis in the sixth round with a right hook to
the face but referee Jay Nady ruled it as a slip,
claiming that the Australian’s feet got entangled.
The
Filipino had some fine moments when he forced Katsidis
to the middle of the ring and pummelled the Australian
with jabs and uppercuts Katsidis, however, managed to
connect more while pushing the Filipino through the
ropes most of the time.
Katsidis
(23-0, 20 knockouts), who by then had severe lacerations
in the left eyelid and right cheek, staggered Amonsot in
the 10th round with a swinging right punch then again
floored the Filipino for a second time with a barrage of
shots on both sides of the head.
Amonsot
(18-3-1, 10 knockouts) got up but looked spent and
stayed mostly in the middle of the ring while Katsidis,
sensing that the fight is already in the bag,
surprisingly moved away from any harm planned by the
Filipino fighter up to the 12th and final round.
Judge
Ruben Garcia scored it 116-110, Patricia Morse Jarman
saw it 114-112 while CJ Ross penned it 115-111 all in
favor of Katsidis.
Amonsot’s manager Tony Aldeguer told BusinessMirror he
was still proud of his ward’s performance.
The
Philippines was on a roll lately as flyweight Nonito
Donaire Jr. and minimumweight Florante Condes both won
the International Boxing Federation crowns of their
respective divisions.
Filipino
superstar Manny Pacquiao holds the fringe World Boxing
Council (WBC) international super-featherweight belt
that are usually contested by boxers outside of the
organization’s top 10 ratings.
Early
next month, two other Filipinos Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista
and ex-world super-flyweight champion Gerry Peñalosa get
their world title shots against Mexican kingpins.
Bautista
will engage WBO super-bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce
de Leon while Peñalosa battles WBO bantamweight ruler
Jhonny Gonzalez in a pair of 12-round bouts that will
headline the seven-fight, RP vs. Mexico World Cup of
Boxing card on August 11 at the Arco Arena in
Sacramento, California.
“He
can’t sustain his focus on the fight but it was a good
fight though,” said Aldeguer in a text message.
About a
year ago, experts had given up on Amonsot after he was
kicked out of the famed ALA Boxing gym in Cebu where he
was caught drinking liquor inside their quarters.
The
incident affected Amonsot’s career that led to a brutal
first-round loss last year to previous conqueror Simson
Butar Butar of Indonesia in front of a shocked
Tagbilaran City crowd. Butar-Butar also scored a
knockout win over Amonsot in their 2005 battle in
Indonesia.
A
reformed Amonsot made amends with Aldeguer and made a
sterling comeback last February by winning the vacant
WBO Asia Pacific lightweight belt, scoring a hard-earned
12-round split decision over Korean Da Woon Jung in
Seoul. |
