Gaballo seizes moment

Pinoy PUG beats Puerto rican for VACaNT title

MANILA, Philippines — Late replacement Reymart Gaballo of Polomolok seized the chance of a lifetime and made it pay off as he fought like a man possessed from start to finish in pounding out a split 12-round decision over Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Rodriguez to capture the vacant interim WBC bantamweight title at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut last Saturday night (yesterday morning, Manila time).

It was a close fight even as Gaballo was the aggressor from the onset. Rodriguez, a former world champion, countered with some precision but couldn’t convince two of the three judges to give their nod because he fought defensively and was never a threat. There were no knockdowns in the fight with Rodriguez refusing to engage and was on the run most of the way. Judge Don Trella had it 116-112 and judge John McKaie, 115-113, both for Gaballo while judge David Sutherland scored it 118-110 for Rodriguez.

The disparity in the scorecards reflected how close it was. There were only two rounds where the three judges agreed to score for Rodriguez, the fifth and 11th, and they concurred in awarding only the eighth for Gaballo. Sutherland gave nine of the last 10 rounds to Rodriguez, raising doubts on the wide margin in his scorecard. Gaballo got off to a hot start with Trella scoring the first four rounds for the Filipino and McKaie, three of the first four. Rodriguez never stayed put to go toe-to-toe, showing a lot of respect for Gaballo’s power.

Gaballo had the edge in body shots landed, 28-13, and power shots connected, 68-64. Rodriguez resorted to hit-and-run tactics and outjabbed Gaballo, 45-25. Gaballo clearly outworked Rodriguez, throwing more power punches, 323-181, and more total blows, 520-372. Rodriguez’ advantage in total connections was not by much, 109-93.

MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons, who negotiated Gaballo’s fight with Premier Boxing Champions CEO Al Haymon and promoter Tom Brown, said the win was decisive. “Gaballo won easy, dictated the fight and chased Rodriguez back to Puerto Rico,” he said. “Gaballo went after Rodriguez like he stole money from him right at the opening bell. The only way Rodriguez could’ve outclassed Gaballo was by running away from him. Anyone who thought Rodriguez deserved to win is nuts. (WBO president) Don Paco (Valcarcel) messaged in the middle of the fight asking what those TV announcers were talking about because they had Rodriguez winning.” Gibbons said the bantamweight division will soon be dominated by Filipinos with JohnRiel Casimero holding the WBO belt, Gaballo and Michael Dasmarinas challenging super WBA/IBF champion Naoya Inoue next year. There’s also Nonito Donaire Jr. waiting in the wings.

IBF superflyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas, who watched the fight on TV with Gibbons, Joven Jimenez, Eumir Marcial, Mark Magsayo and Jonas Sultan in Los Angeles, said, “Ganda ng laban, pinagpawisan ako, todo suporta para kay Reymart, ang nagdala sa kaniya ay tapang, parang takot si Rodriguez, si Reymart ang sumugod at nagpakita ng power.” Magsayo said, “Congratulations, binigay lahat para sa Pilipinas, puso!” Marcial said, “Sobrang proud kami sa ‘yo, Reymart, I love you.” Gaballo, 24, raised his record to 24-0, with 20 KOs while Rodriguez, 28, fell to 19-2, with 12 KOs.

GAB chairman Baham Mitra said, “It’s the best Christmas gift for Philippine sports. Winning the prestigious WBC belt as a replacement fighter is another achievement. I hope it serves as a lesson for our fighters to always keep fit and always stay safe. Opportunities like this don’t come often and we’re proud another Filipino has performed well and brought home the title for us all.”

Gaballo was supposed to fight Chile’s Jose Velasquez for the interim WBA crown in the Connecticut undercard but when Donaire was pulled out of the main event, he was moved up to face Rodriguez instead on less than two weeks’ notice. It was reminiscent of Manny Pacquiao’s elevation as a substitute for injured challenger Enrique Sanchez on two weeks’ notice to face IBF superbantamweight titleholder Lehlo Ledwaba in Las Vegas in 2001. Pacquiao, a 7-1 underdog, rose to the occasion and dethroned the South African on a sixth round technical knockout.