CEBU, Philippines - Marlon 'Nightmare' Tapales (23-2, 9KOs) of RWS Gym punched his way to a unanimous decision victory over Fredirex Rodriguez (11-3, 8KOs) of Bukidnon to capture the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight title on the undercard of the “Battle of the Undefeated†boxing show last Thursday night at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
The 21-year-old Tapales proved to be the more superior fighter, connecting a series of powerful hooks to the body and head of Rodriguez who went down the canvas in the sixth round.
Rodriguez survived the ordeal, but Tapales proved too classy in the remainder of the scheduled 12-round bout. The official scores were 117-110, 119-108 and 119-108.
In the other match, the resurgent Gerpaul Valero (15-14-3, 10KOs) of Noy Pacing Flores Stable came up with the biggest triumph of his career after eking out a split verdict over former WBC flyweight champion Sonny Boy Jaro (34-13-5, 24KOs).
The two judges scored 96-94 and 97-93 for Valero, while the other judge gave it 96-94 for Jaro, thus, the split decision.
Valero's Team Singwangcha stablemates in Ardie Boyose, Neil John Tabanao, and Joey Canoy also hurdled their respective assignments. Boyose scored a second round stoppage of Al Grumo, Tabanao knocked out Charlie Pucdol at 1:25 of the first round, while Canoy flattened Marwin Cristota in the fourth round. (FREEMAN)