Advertisement

Michael Farenas knocks out Jesus Rios, aims for WBO champ Mikey Garcia

Michael Farenas stares at his opponents Jesus Rios after flooring him for a second time. Farenas won the fight by stoppage in the second round. (Yahoo! PH/Carlo Pamintuan)

The three Filipinos in the main event of First Blood: Philippines versus Mexico all delivered wins although in varying methods.

Michael Farenas capped the night with a knockout victory, Dodie Boy Penalosa Jr. kept his undefeated record with a technical decision, while Richard Pumicpic earned a difficult unanimous decision victory.

First Blood is the first fight card of MAG Pacman Boxing International Promotions, which is owned by Manny Pacquiao, Gerry Penalosa, and Anson Tiu-Co. They transformed the Grand Ballroom of the Solaire Resort and Casino into a good-looking boxing venue and they packed the night with action-filled fights.

Also read: Brandon Rios reportedly fails post-fight drug test

As the fight card went on with Friday night turning into Saturday early morning, the fans at the venue demanded a knockout victory from Farenas and he delivered, sending everyone happy after just two rounds.
Rios took a knee early in the first round after a flurry from Farenas. The Filipino then finished him off with another set of combinations, which sent the Mexican down again. Rios got up before the referee reached the count but he was waved off.

“I knew I could take him in the first round but I controlled myself,” Farenas said in Filipino. “My next fight could be for the world title so I wanted to work out.”

In the supporting main event, the undefeated Penalosa was in a tough battle against Alem Robles whose record did reflect how good a fighter he was. Because it was a lefty versus righty fight, the two clashed heads multiple times in the fight. The situation finally did damage in the seventh round when an accidental clash of heads opened a gash on top of Penalosa’s right eye, which prompted the referee to stop the fight.
The judges scored the fight 69-64, 68-65, and 69-64, giving Penalosa the nod due to his superior strikes and much-improved defense. The young Filipino was still caught by a couple of hard punches from Robles but he never allowed himself to be in deep trouble as he simply picoted away from danger.

“I’m happy with his performance,” Gerry Penalosa said about his nephew. “I wanted to see him in that kind of situation, I wanted to see how he will respond and he did well.”

Also read: Seven boxers qualify for finals in SEAG

Richard Pumicpic was also in a tough fight against Luis Lugo. The two young fighters traded heavy leather from the opening bell. Pumicpic lunged with his punches, wanting to stop the fight with one of his walloping punches but Lugo was too good a fighter to be caught with haymakers.

Pumicpic had to settle for a unanimous decision victory with scores of 96-92, 98-90, and 98-92. He raised his record to 14-5-2, extending his winning streak to three fights.