Saludar’s dream goes up in smoke

MANILA, Philippines — It was supposed to be history in the making as Froilan Saludar sought to join brother Vic as the only Filipino brothers to reign as world boxing champions simultaneously. But last Friday, Saludar’s dream turned into a nightmare as he was stopped by WBO flyweight champion Sho Kimura at 0:54 of the sixth round at the Qingdao Guosen Gym in Shandong province, China.

The ending was totally unexpected.  Saludar, 29, started out with guns blazing and took an early lead. Then Kimura began to bang the body, slowly taking the starch out of the Filipino’s attack. Late in the fifth round, a left hook to the body sent Saludar down for an eight-count. The bell saved Saludar but the one-minute respite in between rounds wasn’t enough time to recover. Another body assault by Kimura finished off Saludar within the first minute of the next round.

Before the fight, Saludar’s promoter Kenneth Rontal predicted a different ending. “Froilan will give everything for this fight even to the point of not caring whatever happens to his face as long as he will win,” said Rontal. “This win will be for history and pride.” Kimura must have paid attention to Rontal’s declaration because it wasn’t Saludar’s face that he pummelled. Kimura ravaged Saludar’s body instead and forced the submission.

Chris Flores of Phoenix was the third man in the ring. At the time of the stoppage, judges Surat Soikrachang of Thailand and Benoit Roussel of Canada saw it 48-46, both for Kimura. The other judge Patricia Jarman of Las Vegas had it 49-45, also for the Japanese who made his second defense of the crown he wrested from China’s Zuo Shiming on an 11th round stoppage in Shanghai last year.

WBO Asia/Pacific and Africa president Leon Panoncillo, a Hawaiian of Filipino descent now based in Thailand, was the fight supervisor. Saludar scaled 111.22 pounds and Kimura, 111.66 at the weigh-in the day before the bout. 

Saludar finished up his training at the Penalosa Gym in the Araneta Center, Cubao, then left for China last Monday. His trainer is Jojo Palacios and manager is Kathy Rosillo. Saludar’s brother Vic became the WBO minimumweight champion via a unanimous 12-round decision over Ryuya Yamanaka in Kobe, Japan, last July 13. Dodie Boy and Gerry Penalosa are the only Filipino brothers to win world titles but they reigned in different years.

The loss snapped Saludar’s five-fight winning streak. He had previously lost only to McWilliams Arroyo in Puerto Rico in 2014 and Takuma Inoue in 2016. Saludar, the No. 3 contender, entered the ring a 9-1 underdog. His record fell to 28-3-1, with 19 KOs including seven in the first round. Kimura, 29, raised his record to 17-1-2, with 10 KOs. He has been ordered by the WBO to stake his belt in a mandatory defense against No. 1 contender Kosei Tanaka, the former WBO minimumweight and lightflyweight champion, on Sept. 24.