Pagara brothers impressive, nail KO wins over Mexicans

CEBU, Philippines -  The Pagara brothers Jason and Albert fought as decisive and gallant as their respective monickers on the way to hammer out spectacular knockout victories over their Mexican rivals during the ‘Pinoy Pride 26: Fists of the Future’ fightcard last Saturday night at the Pacific grand ballroom of Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Jason Pagara, the "El Niño" of the ALA Boxing Gym, cemented his status as one of the top prospects in the tough 140-pound division with his methodical fourth round stoppage of Mario ‘Rocky’ Meraz to retain his WBO International light welterweight title.

Jason's younger brother named 'Prince' Albert was more brutal, needing only 78 seconds to put the lights out of Hugo ‘Olimpico’ Partida to keep his unbeaten record intact and at the same time wrest the IBF Intercontinental junior featherweight belt.

Jason immediately jumped the gun on Meraz, landing solid combinations to the head that downed the Mexican visitor in the first round.

Meraz, however, quickly got up and even engaged Pagara in a virtual streetbrawl in the succeeding rounds to the delight of the appreciative crowd. Meraz did connect some good hits, but he was also at the receiving end of the ALA fighter's vicious attacks.

Sensing that Meraz tried to control the pace of the bout, Pagara became more aggressive in the fourth round, battering his foe with a variation of head and body shots. A few moments later, he succeeded in pinning Meraz against the ropes, then unleashed a barrage of punches the put the Mexican down at the seat of his pants for the second time.

Meraz tried to stand up, but referee Danrex Tapdasan immediately stopped the fight, believing that he had taken enough punishment from Pagara. The official time was 2:59 of round four.

“He was tough (Meraz). The punches that I connected were strong yet he was able to take it and continue until the fourth round," said Jason, who now holds an improved 34-2 win-loss record laced with 21KOs.

“Hopefully after that win, I showed to the people that I am a real deal in my division. I am ready to prove myself against bigger names. I want to fight them to show that I belong in the division. I want bigger names like Brandon Rios. I would love that fight to happen.”

Earlier, Albert Pagara was similarly impressive although he just made shortwork of the hapless Partida to stretch his undefeated record to 21-0 now spiked with 15 kayoes.

Pagara knocked down Partida two times before delivering the final blow,  a vicious hook-straight combo to the jaw that sent Partida into the dreamland at the 1:18 mark of the first round.

“I am happy not only because me and my brother won, but also because I finally won my first title,” said Albert.

ALA Promotions President and CEO Michael Aldeguer was so impressed with the performances of the Pagara siblings that he plans to send them to the United States to undergo more extensive training preparatory for bigger fights ahead of their promising careers.

In other featured bouts of the slambang card, former two-time world title challenger AJ ‘Bazooka’ Banal (31-2, 22KOs) showed he's on the right comeback trail following his second round demolition of Indonesian Defry ‘Hammer’ Palulu (10-1, 9KOs), while Jimrex Jaca (39-7-4, 22KOs) and Japanese Masayoshi Kotake (9-8-1, 5KOs) fought toi a technical draw. The bout was stopped in the third round after Jaca could no longer continue due to a deep cut over his right eyelid caused by accidental clash of heads. (FREEMAN)