Ex-PXC champ Ale Cali shot dead in Davao

MANILA, Philippines -- Ale Cali, a boxer who made headlines in the mixed martial art scene by becoming lightweight champion of the Pacific X-treme Combat (PXC) a few years back, was shot dead yesterday in Davao City.

Davao City authorities and sources confirmed that Cali was killed by a lone gunman at around 10:30 a.m. in Ulas, Davao City with motive for the killing remaining undetermined since it was still under investigation at press time.

Cali, 25, made a name for himself after capturing the PXC flyweight crown with a shock TKO win over Guam's Jessie Taitano in February three years ago.

After failing to make progress in boxing, Cali tried his luck in MMA by joining Universal Reality Combat Championship where he split his first two matches--a loss to Salvador Larozza six years ago and a win over Philip Parcon the next year.

He then won his next four fights in the PXC with wins over Josh Alvarez, Dylan Pablo, Taitano and Erwin Tagle.

His streak ended after suffering back-to-back defeats to Louis Smolka in PXC 41 two years ago and Ernesto Montilla in PXC 43 last year