MIKE Plania dodged the gallant stand of Lorence Rosas as he nailed a majority-decision victory to capture the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) International bantamweight title on Saturday in Sanman Promotion’s “Brawl at the Mall: Revenge or Revalidation” at Makati Cinema Square, Makati City.
Plania, who hails from General Santos City, used his superior speed to evade the attacks of Rosas and remain unbeaten with 10 wins in four knockouts.
It was a tight battle since the opening bell, as Plania and the Makati CIty-based Rosas (5-1, two draws) showed aggressiveness throughout their 10-round main event.
Rosas attempted to finish the bout early with some vicious right hooks in the third round that wobbled his more experienced foe. But Plania was too fast and evasive as he unleashed quick jabs to control the tempo of the match until the end.
One judge scored the title bout at 94-all, while the other two saw it at 96-92 and 95-93 for Plania.
“Magaling ‘yung kalaban ko. Nahirapan ako kasi parehas kaming mabilis. Kaya sinunod ko lang ’yung sabi ng trainer ko na higpitan ko lang ‘yung depensa ko,” Plania told the BusinessMirror.
“Sana maging perfect pa rin ‘yung record ko. Tiwala naman ako palagi sa ensayo at sa coach ko,” Plania added.
Both boxers were slapped with a one-point deduction—Plania with frequent spitting out of his mouthpiece and Rosas for continuous head butts.
In other results in the first-ever event of Sanman in Manila, John Vincent Moralde escaped via split-decision win over Jimmy Aducal to maintain his perfect record at 16 wins with seven knockouts.
Moralde dropped in the ninth round but went on for a victory as he piled the cushion in the early rounds against the gutsy performance of Aducal (8-6-2).
Marquil Salvana (11-1), meanwhile, finished the bout in the second round via technical-knockout win over debuting pro boxer Lowell Saguisa.
Image credits: ALYSA SALEN