TAPALES CAPTURES WBO WORLD BANTAM TITLE VIA 11TH RND KO

By LITO DELOS REYES

AYUTTHAYA, Thailand – Challenger Marlon ‘The Nightmare’ Tapales of the Philippines survived two knockdowns in the fifth round to knockout two-time world champion Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand in the 11^th round and captured the WBO World bantamweight title at the Ayuttha City Park in a hot Wednesday afternoon here.

Tapales showed that he has the heart of a true champion by making a strong comeback by also knocking down Singyu in the sixth round of their 12-round championship fight.

He was bombarded by Singyu with left-right combinations in the 5^th round but still stood up and even managed to counter with short punches before the bell rang.

Singyu was already rejoicing after scoring his second knockdown by climbing on the ropes and raising his hands during the 5^th canto.

But Tapales survived and came back strong in the next round to also knock down Singyu with a right to the body.

“Pinakita ko lang na meron tayong pusong Pinoy. Ayaw nating sumuko,” (I only showed that I have a heart of a Filipino. We don’t want to surrender) said Tapales after the dramatic fight.

The 24-year old Tapales said that he also had noticed in the later rounds that Singyo had slowed down and was very tired already.

“Nihinay na iyang mga kumo at kaya na nako,” (His punches slowed down and I can take it already), he said.

Tapales connected solid punches mostly to the head and face of Singyu, who was badly hurt already after the 10^th round with a bloodied mouth.

Tapales continued to attack in the 11^th round with his left-right combinations to finally down Singyu for good near the ropes with 37 seconds left.

The 26-year old Singyu suffered a broken jaw and was immediately rushed to the hospital.

Tapales, a native of Tubod, Lanao del Norte, scored his 29^th win and 12^th knockout against only two losses and no draw to become the fourth reigning Filipino world boxing champion.

Singyu, who was making his second title-defense by a mandatory, suffered only his fourth defeat against 52 wins with 35 knockouts.

“It was a good fight,” said Tapales’ manager Rex “Wakee” Salud, who brought his team all the way from Cebu led by trainer Fernando Ocon.

Also present was Tapales’ mother Maria and his Thai supporter Narish Singwangcha.

HongKong boxing promoter-manager Jay Lau said: “I have never seen a great and exciting fight like that (live).”

Filipino international matchmaker Brico Santig, on the other hand, said: “Napakagandang laban. Hindi mo malalaman kung sino ang mananalo talaga.” (It was a great fight. You will never know on who will really win.)

Tapales, however, was already leading on the judge’s score sheets – Lisa Giampa (94-93), Gerardo Martinez (95-94) and Chris Tellez (96-91).

Tapales, a former WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion, had also fought but lost for the interim WBC Silver super flyweight title against David Sanchez by a majority decision on February23, 2013 in Sonora, Mexico.

Singyu won the vacant WBO World bantamweight title via a 2^nd round knockout victory over Ryo Akaho on August 7, 2015 at the Central Stadium in Ratchaburi. He retained it via a technical decision win over Jetro Pabustan last February 12 also in Thailand.

Singyu is also a former WBC Youth World bantamweight champion and has won four other titles – WBO Asia Pacific, WBO International, interim WBO Oriental and WBO Asia Pacific Youth bantamweight.