Andales steals ‘Blow By Blow’ show

There were two Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) championship fights on the “Blow By Blow” card at the Barangay Ramon Magsaysay covered court in Bago Bantay, Quezon City last Sunday but a 10-round appetizer stole the show.

Unbeaten Roderick Bautista floored Arvin Sampaga twice enroute to pounding out a unanimous 10-round decision for the PBF lightflyweight crown and veteran Jason Manigos upset heavy favorite Fernando (El Cazador) Tagpuno via a ninth-round stoppage to claim the vacant PBF superfeatherweight belt but it was Ar-Ar Andales’ win over former IBF minimumweight champion Rene Mark Cuarto that created heavy ripples along cauliflower row.

Andales and Cuarto engaged in a bitter dogfight, battling toe-to-toe from start to finish. Since losing the IBF crown to Daniel Valladares on a split 12-round verdict in Monterrey, Mexico, in July 2022, Cuarto has fallen on hard times. He has lost five of his last seven and his career is on the brink of collapse. Cuarto, 28, desperately tried to bring down Andales, 25, but couldn’t. Andales, who withdrew from challenging then IBF minimumweight titlist Ginjiro Shigeoka in Nagoya last March because of an injury, floored Cuarto in the seventh round and won with plenty to spare. Judges Don Arguelles and Gil Co had it 97-92 and judge Alttrixia Lorente, 98-91.

Andales, unbeaten in his last nine outings, is expected to storm back into world title contention. His record is now 16-2-3 with six KOs. In 2019, Andales was thwarted in a bid for the WBA minimumweight crown, losing on a technical decision to Thai Knockout CP Freshmart. He has his sights on the lightflyweight or flyweight crown since the 105-division is overcrowded with two Filipino world rulers, IBF’s Pedro Taduran and WBC’s Melvin Jerusalem.

Manigos’ triumph was totally unexpected. He was decked in the third round and Tagpuno seemed ready to finish him off. Then tragedy struck. Tagpuno broke his left hand during a skirmish and lost his aggressiveness. Manigos was nearly out of gas but with Tagpuno fighting one-armed, sucked it up for a last-ditch attack. Virtually defenseless, Tagpuno was hammered repeatedly and fell on his back. Referee Nowell Haduca waved it off at 1:07 of the ninth. GAB medics rushed to Tagpuno’s aid and strapped an oxygen mask while he lay. When Tagpuno sat up, he vomited and slumped back on the canvas. He was stretchered out to an ambulance which brought him to a nearby hospital. Tagpuno was later reported to be in stable condition. Manigos, 34, had lost five of his last seven but came off a big win over Kakeru Mashimo in Mandaue last June. A grizzled warrior, Manigos has fought in Russia, Japan twice, South Africa and Mexico twice. Tagpuno, 22, was touted to be a rising star with a 9-3 record, including nine KOs.

In other fights, flyweight Christian Legane scored four knockdowns and halted Dave Puing at 2:59 of the fifth, flyweight Jobert Dacullo decked Dennis Gaviola once in the second and scored a unanimous eight-round decision, superfeatherweight Speedy Boy Acope beat Ronald Blanco on a majority six-round verdict, welterweight Jemuel Galabay stopped Christian Lee Cuarrez at 2:13 of the second, supermiddleweight Mark (Deadshot) Sadang dropped Albert Santiago thrice to win by TKO at 1:48 of the first, minimumweight Jersey Nunez defeated Jerico Rimbao on a unanimous four-round decision, bantamweights John Jacinto and Cyrus Gavina battled to a unanimous four-round draw and lightweight Alfredo Tesing floored Rendell Bierneza twice to score a TKO at 2:00 of the first. “Blow By Blow” is Manny Pacquiao’s platform to showcase Filipino fighters and give back to the sport.