Belingon overwhelms Nguyen to become interim bantamweight champ

MANILA, Philippines — Kevin Belingon capped off Team Lakay and the Philippines’ ONE Championship campaign with a dominant showing over two-division titleholder Martin Nguyen on Friday night.

The Team Lakay fighter—accompanied by newly-minted flyweight kingpin Geje Eustaquio, and former lightweight champion Eduard Folayang—mounted an incredible performance en route to become a champion himself, capturing the interim bantamweight strap via unanimous decision in the “Reign of Kings” showpiece at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Belingon unleashed a barrage of strikes to dictate the fight’s pace early. His striking display seemed to overwhelm Nguyen—who in a desperate move to land a clean strike, accidentally hits the former’s groin.

The Aussie-Vietnamese kept on looking to connect his right hand—the one he is known for, and the same fist that sent Folayang to sleep almost a year ago—halfway through the fight.

Come final frame, Nguyen tried to take the Filipino striker down but the latter continued to rely on the power of his hands and feet drawing cheers from the partisan crowd.

Nguyen had another chance to bring the Pinoy down with 90 ticks left in the match but simply couldn’t complete the move.

Belingon milked the clock en route to the final rings of the bell with the thought of outscoring decorated fighter and under the watchful eye of division ruler Bibiano Fernandes.

“I could not explain this feeling. Maybe I’m the happiest athlete tonight,” Belingon told Mitch Chilson in the post-fight chat in the cage. 

Belingon improves to 19-5-0 professionally.

“It’s an honor to fight Martin—still, he’s a chamion,” he said. “I worked hard for this belt. And I’m proud to have joined Geje and Brandon (Vera).”

The Baguio City’s latest exploit makes the Philippines as the most decorated country with three champions in the promotion. He rounds out the the string of victories by stablemates Folayang, Joshua Pacio, and Rene Catalan.

Nguyen, for his part, drops to 11-3-0 but remains the lightweight and featherweight champion.

“I think he did a great job today. But I’m still the champion,” Fernandes said of the Filipino.

“There’s no escaping my friend,” Belingon told the injured champion, wrapping the event.