‘Tiger’ from ALA Gym roars to the top of WBO pedestal

CEBU, Philippines - He will absolutely rise from relative obscurity in the Philippine boxing scene after weaving an inspiring story of a successful late bloomer. He's a late bloomer in the sense that he turned pro only at the age of 24, which is a bit old to start a professional career. But as the proverbial saying goes, "it's better late than never" and it's true enough for this roaring "Tiger" from the ALA Boxing Gym.

Although he is not quite known here in Cebu, Sabillo's name rings a bell in his hometown in Bacolod City where he had 14 of his first 15 bouts. He had his baptism of fire just one week after his 24th birthday, eking out a four-round unanimous decision win over Powell Balaba on January 26, 2008 at the PAGCOR Hotel and Casino in Bacolod's Goldenfield Commercial Complex.

He piled up 11 straight wins before wresting the vacant Philippine minumweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Jetly Purisima on August 1, 2010. After defending his PHL throne twice, Sabillo went on to annex the OPBF 105-pound crown after beating Rodel Tejares by unanimous verdict on October 8, 2011 at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum also in Bacolod.

Armed with an unbeaten record and the OPBF belt strapped around his waist, ALA Promotions felt it's now high time for Sabillo to invade the Queen City of the South and make an impression before the Cebuano fans.

Sabillo passed his first acid test with flying colors, winning by eight-round unanimous decision over Indonesia toughie Sofyan Effendi on January 28, 2012 at the Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino. In his only second ring appearance in Cebu, he made quite an impression with a smashing first round knockout of Jovel Romasasa on September 22 last year also at the Waterfront Hotel.

Sabillo has all the makings of a ring star, but it was only last Sunday that he affirmed his status as the next big thing in Philippine boxing.

After five years of hardwork and perseverance, Sabillo finally rose in the ranks among ALA Gym's elite fighters and he did it in style - winning a world title in a hostile territory fighting for the first time outside of the country.

In a classic display of punching savvy, Sabillo stopped Colombia's hometown idol Luis de la Rosa in round eight of a scheduled 12-rounder to capture the interim WBO minimumweight crown last Sunday at the Coliseo Mario De Leon Cerete in Cordoba, Colombia.

“I want to thank God, my family and my stable mates at the ALA Gym for this victory,”  Sabillo told Dong Secuya of philboxing.com.  “I'm happy that I won this title for the country.”

It was a historic triumph for Sabillo as it marks for the first time that two boxers under the aegis of Cebu's fabled ALA Stable reign as world champions at the same period of time. The other one is Sabillo's fellow Negrense in WBO light flyweight titlist Donnie "Ahas" Nietes. Sabillo comes from the town of Toboso in Negros Occidental, while Nietes hails from Murcia, just three kilometers away from Bacolod.

Sabillo and De la Rosa figured in an action-packed, non-stop exchange of blows right from the opening bell. The Colombian brawler sustained a cut right in the first round, but it only fired him up to  unleash a barrage of power shots that rocked Sabillo on several occasions. Sabillo, however, was resilient enough in taking De la Rosa's punches.

The tide of the match turned in Sabillo's favor after he dropped De La Rosa with a right hand. De La Rosa beat the count but was in serious trouble. Sabillo pounced right on him when the action resumed and dropped him again with a straight left. De La Rosa beat the count anew but was visibly dazed and groggy, forcing the referee to wave off the bout at the 2:58 mark of round eight.

Aside from stretching his clean record to 21-0 now spiked with 11KOs, the 29-year-old Sabillo also earned a mandatory shot at reigning WBO 105-pound titlist Moises Fuentes of Mexico.

But that is unlikely to happen as far as ALA Promotions President and CEO Michael P. Aldeguer is concerned.

“The WBO seldom schedules an interim title fight,” Aldeguer said in the same philboxing.com report. “To my understanding, this fight [Sabillo vs De La Rosa] was in anticipation that Fuentes will vacate his title. It is only called an Interim title fight because it was set too close to the Nietes-Fuentes fight. Also, I don't think Fuentes can still make weight at minimumweight."

Should Fuentes decides to stay in the light flyweight division where he failed to snatch the crown following a controversial majority draw with Nietes last March 2 at the Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Sabillo automatically becomes the regular WBO minimumweight champion.