Romero keeps URCC featherweight title

MANILA, Philippines - Red Romero remained as URCC featherweight king after stopping Malaysian rival  Jian Kai Chee early in the second round even as Jeson Estoro emerged as the new bantamweight champion in the “URCC 26: Domination” held over the weekend at the Fontana Conventional Hall in Clark, Pampanga.

Romero bucked the Malaysian’s hot start in the five-round bout to take control of the match before coming through with a vicious kick to make his comeback from a long layoff due to various injuries a memorable one.

Visibly shaken, the Malaysian fell flat on his back to the delight of a huge crowd.

Romero, who took the title two years ago with a dominant win over Ricardo Sapno, improved to 9-5 in the event organized by Universal Reality Combat Championship headed by Alvin Aguilar and sponsored by Fontana, Tribal Gear, Solar Sports, Robust, Sound Brothers & Pink Productions.

Estoro and Japanese Hideo Morikawa joined the elite club of URCC champions by beating their respective rivals.

Using his Muay Thai techniques to his advantage, Estoro dethroned Andrew Benibe with a solid right.

Morikawa, who is now a Manila resident, defeated fan-favorite Alvin Ramirez to win the vacant pinweight title.

Chinese Yang Xiao Nan, meantime, shrugged off the jeers to beat local bet Dolores Meek in the lone women’s match of the night.

In other results, CJ de Tomas outpointed Carlo Laurel via decision, Chris Hoffman stopped Jeremias Tan, Mark Palomar outclassed Sam Mison, Do Kyum Lee stopped Drex Zamboanga, Isiah Ordiz defeated Arvin Chan and Bernard Soriano downed Ruel Rio.